Hawaii’s foreclosure filings for November 2010 are about the same as in November of 2009, despite a 31 percent decline in November compared with October. The culprit is an increase in filings on Oahu, according to RealtyTrac statistics.

Compared with the rest of the country, Hawaii ranks in at 13th, with 877 foreclosure filings (including notices of default, trustee auctions and bank repossessions). The rate comes out to one out of every 585 housing units. The national foreclosure average of November fell 21 percent compared with October, and was also 14 percent lower than it was in November of 2009. This was the most significant drop since RealtyTrac began publishing the report in 2005.

As for potential causes of the national foreclosure decline, some point to a simple seasonal drop, and some indicate that the robo-signing scandal forced a lot of lenders to suspend foreclosures. Both are valid reasons, according to RealtyTrac’s CEO James Saccacio. If you aren’t familiar with the scandal, it involves lenders submitting documents to the courts as true without verifying whether they really are. In some cases, hundreds of foreclosure documents were signed every day, with lenders only checking the dates.

Back to foreclosure rates! While we mentioned earlier that Hawaii’s year-over-year foreclosure rate was unchanged for November, we didn’t mention Maui. Our year-over-year foreclosure rate did fall, and by 10 percent. Only Kauai’s fell further, with a 19 percent drop, and the Big Island’s numbers fell by 7 percent. It was Oahu’s 15 percent increase that weighed down the state’s average.

With Maui’s slowing foreclosure rate, there’s no guarantee that real estate prices will remain low for long. As foreclosure inventory is bought up, prices are expected to begin climbing again. So if you are considering taking advantage of the great opportunities here, we recommend you look into the REO homes in West Maui and the REO condos in West Maui. Not looking for a bank-owned property? Take a look at Puamana condos. If you need any help, just let us know… Mahalo!