2013 was a stronger year for the Shelby County real estate market, and over the past 12 months, residential foreclosures in the county fell 15 percent to 3,563 from the 4,189 in 2012, according to real estate information company Chandler Reports. Commercial foreclosures dropped 10 percent for the year, with 89 in 2013 compared with 99 in 2012. The decline in residential foreclosures for the year follows a 5 percent gain in foreclosures in 2012, which followed a 14 percent slump in 2011.

The Memphis real estate market improved in 2013 and experts believe that the momentum will continue, bringing a strong year for real estate in 2014. Shelby County’s 3,563 foreclosures in 2013 included residential properties owned an average of almost 10 years before the foreclosure. The 2013 residential foreclosures included 707 conventional fixed-rate mortgages and 341 conventional adjustable-rate mortgages, among foreclosures for which a loan type was known.