Home values seem to have reached a plateau, property sales are up and foreclosures are slightly down, leaving officials cautiously optimistic about the state of Summit's real estate market.

“Looking at just foreclosure information and also our delinquent taxes, I think the economy here, at least the real estate market, has leveled off,” Summit County Treasurer and Public Trustee Bill Wallace said. “I would be surprised to see an increase in foreclosures next year.”

Home values are showing similar glimmers of hope, remaining generally flat this year after sinking more than 17 percent in the last two-year valuation period, according to Assessor Beverly Breakstone.

Foreclosures, which spiked from 145 through the end of third quarter 2008 up to 258 at the same point in 2010, saw a slight decline this year.

Excluding timeshare foreclosures, which doubled from September 2010 to September 2011, the county's foreclosure filings dropped to 157 as of Sept. 30 from 216 at the same time last year, according to Wallace's data.

Bank sales in Summit County year-to-date have nearly doubled from 2010, a positive sign for the current market, researchers say.

“Bank sales are good in these market conditions because it means banks are turning over their foreclosed properties to new buyers, which helps up-level the market inventory by clearing out these predominately lower-priced offerings,” said Karen Sue Timson, of Data Research Associates.

The foreclosure trends suggest Summit County may be escaping the real estate woes that continue to plague other mountain towns.

Foreclosures have increased approximately 20 percent this year in parts of Eagle and Garfield counties.

There were 71 foreclosure filings as of September in the Basalt and El Jebel areas compared to 58 at the same time last year. Parts of Garfield County, including Glenwood Springs and Carbondale, are seeing similar increases, the Aspen Times reported.

The properties tend to be centered in largely middle-class neighborhoods in the Roaring Fork Valley.

Though parts of Summit County have also seen jumps in foreclosure rates, particularly in Keystone, Dillon, Dillon Valley, Silverthorne and Blue River, the total number of completed foreclosures in each area remained relatively low, generally in the teens or single digits, according to statistics reported by Data Research Associates.

The stabilization in foreclosure numbers and home values in Summit County, come as buyers and sellers are returning to the table, increasing sales approximately 10 percent so far in 2011 over last year.

More than 800 properties have been sold so far this year, compared to only 744 last year, though the average price on the homes sold has dropped by more than $70,000.

“I think ... that's what we're going to continue to see through this year,” said Allison Simson, who owns Summit Real Estate in Dillon. “That we'll have a total upward sales of 10 percent but that the prices are lower.”

The Aspen Times contributed to the reporting of this story.