Foreclosures continue to climb in Lyon County

The rate of home foreclosures continues to climb in Lyon County, while Carson City stays relatively stable.

Foreclosure statistics released by RealtyTrac for July show there were 239 notices of default filed in Lyon County, with 80 homes going into foreclosure. In June, there were 192 defaults and 54 foreclosures.

In Carson City, there were 51 defaults and 12 foreclosures in July, compared with 45 defaults and 12 foreclosures the month before.

Douglas County saw a drop in defaults, from 94 to 70, from June to July, but an increase in foreclosures, from 21 to 29 homes.

Dan Smith, president-elect of the Sierra Nevada Association of Realtors, said he anticipates the new state law requiring lenders to offer mediation services to homeowners will decrease foreclosures.

"However, that law only recently came into effect, so it may take some time for the effectiveness to be measured," Smith said. "Additionally, we have several local Realtors who are seeking expert training specifically in distressed properties and who are available to assist both buyers and sellers in this challenging market."

Nevada leads the nation in home foreclosures, most of them in Clark County, which had 4,000 foreclosures in July.

According to the Greater Reno-Tahoe Real Estate Report compiled by Mitch Argon of CalNeva Realty, the inventory of homes for sale in Carson City rose to 336 in July. There has been a steady increase of inventories since January of this year when the number of homes for sale stood at 269. But July's numbers are markedly better than September 2007, when there were 504 homes for sale in the middle of the housing boom.

The median price for Carson City homes that sold in 2008 was $192,900, according to Argon, a drop from the high point of $319,000 in 2006.