Foreclosures in Ridgefield were markedly higher in the first three months of the year than in past years, but that might not be a sign of a faltering economy.
Eight homes were foreclosed in the first quarter, compared to 12 in all of 2013 and 15 in 2012, said Dave Ulmer, the chairman of the Board of Finance.
“That’s a pretty high number for only three months,” he said.
“A lot of these have been in the pipeline for a while,” he said. “The banks were foreclosing at a fast rate for a while, but then slowed down due to regulations — this is them catching up, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the town’s economy.”
The town hit its peak with 19 foreclosures in 2011 as the unemployment rate also rose to 6.3% — its highest after the 2008 recession.
Mr. Ulmer said that both the number of foreclosures and the unemployment rate have decreased steadily since 2011.
He added that the average unemployment rate was 5.5% in 2013 and was 5.1% “not seasonalized” in January.
“Seasonalized doesn’t take into account the bad weather, or the holiday season, and how that affects employment,” Mr. Ulmer said.
He added that before the recession the town’s unemployment hovered around 3%.
There was only one home foreclosed in 2006 compared to 15 in 2009 and 18 in 2010.
Seven homes were foreclosed on in 2007 and also in 2008.