Many homeowners who attended the sale of about 175 properties said that they want to know about the available options for them. According to industry experts, properties sold at the sheriff’s sale started as filings of foreclosure filed at the York County Prothonotary’s Office.

For the first eight months of this year, the average monthly foreclosure filings totaled 177. Experts said the number of filings for foreclosure property for sale average 142 for a total of 1,702 last year. They said that with the current trend, there is little chance that foreclosure listings will decline even if it takes almost a year before distressed properties would be placed on the sheriff’s sale.

Meanwhile, foreclosure experts warned potential bidders to arm themselves with knowledge about sheriff’s sales to avoid the risk of financial ruin. They said that a sheriff’s sale is for buyers who have patience and perseverance, adding that it is imperative that bidders should know what they are doing.

The sheriff’s sales are held every 45 days. The process involves making county properties that were either foreclosed or with financial problems available for the public to buy. Industry experts said that potential bidders should be knowledgeable about the process to succeed in sheriff’s sales.

Before attending a foreclosure sale, potential buyers should make sure that they are not bidding on properties that are burdened with liens, such as back taxes and first mortgage debt for houses with second mortgage. They advised buyers to do some title search on properties, especially with those that have second mortgage.

Also, buyers should make sure that the properties they are interested in are vacant to eliminate the trouble of going through an eviction proceedings. If there are tenants on the property, prospective bidders should abide by existing lease terms.

Experts also pointed out that buyers should keep in mind that a foreclosure property for sale is not always in good condition. Getting a home inspection is important if they want to protect their investment.

The number of houses in the region in various stages of foreclosure declined by 7.4 percent compared to March filings.

The region’s foreclosure rate in April was one house in every 827 housing units, well below the nationwide pace of one in every 374 housing units, which has been the biggest monthly foreclosure rate since 2005, the year RealtyTrac started monitoring foreclosures.

RealtyTrac groups the following places as areas of the 13-county Philadelphia region: southern part of Delaware and New Jersey and the Pennsylvania counties of Philadelphia, Chester, Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery.

Philadelphia, with one in every 570 housing units getting a foreclosure filing, had the biggest foreclosure rate. It also contributed 1,188 foreclosure filings to the 4,943 total of foreclosures and foreclosed houses in the region.

The other counties with the biggest foreclosure rates were Gloucester, Burlington, Camden, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks and Chester.

Montgomery County, with a foreclosure rate increase of 77 percent, had the biggest rate increase while Chester County had the lowest as its increase rate of 66 percent. Philadelphia’s filings decreased by 2.4 percent compared to March, but increased by nearly 59 percent compared to April 2008.

In Delaware County, the foreclosure rate has risen by over 195 percent compared to April last year while Chester County’s rate has declined by almost 82 percent over the same period.

The Greater Philadelphia Association of Realtors’ president Al Perry said that the city of Philadelphia was not as battered as other large cities by foreclosed houses because the peaks of Philadelphia’s housing market has not been as high as those in other big cities.

He further explained that the real estate business is local, so one can still find opportunities in the Philadelphia market despite difficulties in other housing markets.

Perry said the national foreclosure numbers for April are not great, but they are still manageable.

James Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac, said a big portion of the foreclosure figures in April were delinquency and auction stages. He said the pace of bank repossessed foreclosed houses declined on annual and monthly basis to their slowest pace since March 2008.

Saccacio added that the April data indicates that mortgage lenders have been starting their foreclosure actions that were delayed by foreclosure moratoriums. He expects an increase in bank repossessed foreclosed houses as the default notices turn into actual foreclosures.