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Looking at foreclosure stories nationwide, you can’t help but wonder what is really happening. Too many statistics that seem contradictory, especially as you look month to month. It’s hard to get the overall picture.

A current article has Colorado at number four in the country with foreclosure filings at 1-in-320 households. But even that is misleading. You need to look by county or by city to get a better picture. For example, in the article California has a filing rate of 1-in-325 households; and Stockton, California’s rate is 1-in-99 households. Greeley is number seven among individual cities nationwide.

Yesterday I was in a class with a real estate attorney whose company represents a number of lenders in foreclosure filings, so he has a good idea of the Colorado scene. His take is that since Colorado is a net importer of people, there is hope that the foreclosure situation will improve fairly soon. However, some areas will have problems for another 18 months or so—primarily areas East of I-25, such as Greeley.

Meanwhile, in the Denver area, Metrolist statistics show that homes are still selling, even though at a slower pace than last year as this MLS chart shows.

Bottom line: it’s not a great market, but homes that are priced right and are sharp still sell quickly.