the
Sun
Sopris Carbondale’s
weekly, non-profit newspaper
Volume 3, Number 1 | February 17, 2011
Preserving their perfect record, Team Orange vanquished No Shadow Kung Fu Kick in the Carbondale Broomball League Championships on Feb. 9. Team Orange is (top row, from left): Matt Suby, Jennifer Kauffman, Katie Martin, Kersten Wilson, Charlie Kees, Mike Mines and (bottom row, from left) Andi Korber, Evan Cree, Matt Gwost, Brent Hayes, Bailey Nelson and Jeff (Dare-ill) Lauckhart. Photo by Terray Sylvester
C’dale foreclosures rise; 2011 could be higher By Lynn Burton Sopris Sun Staff Writer
A
s the national and local recession continues to settle in, foreclosures in Carbondale and the rest of the 81623 Zip Code continue to climb. Foreclosures are even hitting upscale subdivisions like River Valley Ranch and Aspen Glen. “(Foreclosures) are occurring in neighborhoods where you wouldn’t expect it,” said Lynn Kirchner, owner of Amore Realty. “It’s across the board,” said Cindy Sadlowsky of Smotherman & Associates.“Condos … single family homes … .”
Foreclosures are also adding to a glut in the real estate market producing a four to six year inventory of homes, which keeps driving down the price of houses, eats up homeowners’ equity and can put them upside down on their mortgages. Desperate homeowners behind in their mortgage payments or who are burning through their savings are also meeting with real estate brokers and agents for advice on how to save their homes or protect their credit rating. “I’m doing four to six (foreclosure) consultations a week,” Kirchner said. The 81623 Zip Code stretches from Marble to Missouri Heights, west on Highway
82 to Cattle Creek and east on Highway 82 to parts of El Jebel (not including Willits). Records from the Garfield County treasurer’s office paint a quick picture of foreclosures in and around Carbondale. In 2009 as the economy started to sour, there were 68 foreclosures in the 81623 Zip Code. In 2010, the number of foreclosures increased to 87. Throughout all of Garfield County there were 644 foreclosures in 2010, compared to 408 in 2009 and 108 in 2008. The treasurer’s office is predicting 967 foreclosures countywide in 2011. By comparison, there were 244 foreclosures countywide in 1985 following the oil shale bust in
western Garfield County. The low in recent years was 14 countywide in 1996. Garfield County Housing Authority Director Geneva Powell said homeowners affected by foreclosure came in two waves after the recession began. The first wave was comprised mainly of people struggling to enter the market, who were aided by easy financing from the federally backed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. “A lot of the people who got into homeownership were unaware of the responsibility,” Powell said. For example, they were often unprepared for the added expenses involved with homeownership, such FORECLOSURES page 15
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