Video: Experts see more subprime-loan pain ahead

Larger screen

SEATTLE - There are new numbers which suggest the subprime mortgage market could have further impacts on the local economy. There is a wave of homeowners with loans about to reset and that could mean trouble as home values inch lower.

Jillayne Schlicke studies local real estate trends and doesn't like some of the reports she's seeing.

"There are a couple of things that contribute to home values going down, and foreclosures being one of them," said Schlicke, real estate researcher.

Unfortunately, the numbers keep climbing and may go further north with the amount of subprime loans about to hit the reset button.

First American Corelogic, which collects loan data, says more than 12,000 local subprime mortgages will reset within the next six months or roughly 52 percent of the subprimes left to reset - a number lower than the national average.

But the number could impact the foreclosure rate, with more than 2,700 filings statewide in July, over a little more than 1,700 last year, a 56 percent increase.

"When you're in a market where you have some depressed valuation of the marketplace, that makes it more difficult to refinance and sell," said Don Zender, vice president of Evergreen Home Loans.

But Zender is holding out hope for a turnaround, he says based on a job market and geography different than other hemorrhaging real estate markets, like the desert southwest.

"There is a limited amount of places you can build, that creates demand," said Zender. "We're gonna feel some pain, but overall we're gonna be better than other states."

According to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, the median home price in Kitsap County has dropped 12 percent in a year, Pierce County almost 10 percent and King County is down roughly 5.5 percent over this time last year.

The Wash. State Department of Financial Institutions has some advice for avoiding foreclosure.