Foreclosure numbers dropping in Montgomery County

For the first time since 2001, the number of foreclosures will be less than 3,000 this year. 

Greg Brush, Montgomery County Clerk of Courts, said we have had 2,340 foreclosures filed and 2,700 have been projected by the end of December. He and many others believe this is the first solid sign of a turnaround in the housing market since the bubble burst.

So, is the foreclosure crisis really over? We've learned the answer depends on where you stand.

This rosy scenario isn't a reality in Gloria White's Santa Clara neighborhood in Dayton. It is the third emptiest neighborhood in Ohio. 

"I've been living her for sixteen years," said White. "It went from nice to really, really down. I mean, it was like the Adam's family, ghostly coming through here. It was very scary and very trashy." 

Homeowners and renters are living between vacant properties with boarded up windows and doors. 

"Trying to keep things boarded up is hard, hard, hard. The more we try to do it, the more they're coming in," said White, President of the Santa Clara Neighborhood Association.

The empty homes are often invaded by vagrants, vandals and drug dealers. 

The vacant homes in other parts of Montgomery County may not be as painful to look at, but a concern for neighbors just the same. Ted Lebowitz of Kettering has one vacant house across the street and another one directly behind him. 

"They're expensive homes, mortgages are high and if you don't have an income, you're going to lose the house," said Lebowitz. The house across the street is headed for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Foreclosure sale and Lebowitz is hoping that whoever buys the house, occupies it. 

Gloria White has the same concern in Dayton, where mostly banks are buying up the vacant homes. 

"They have bought this property but are they going to resell it or just sit there and not do anything? Are they going to cut the grass? They don't come and do anything with it," White said. 

She is hoping families will buy these homes, fix them up and help her rebuild the neighborhood that she once knew.