A significant drop in foreclosure starts brought down
foreclosure activity in November, according to a foreclosure report from
RealtyTrac.
Foreclosure starts were filed on 77,494 U.S. properties in
November, a 71-month low and the lowest level since December 2006, RealtyTrac
reported Thursday.
The decrease represents a 13 percent drop from October and a 28
percent decline from November 2011. Twenty-eight states experienced annual
declines in foreclosure starts, with Oregon (-84 percent), Pennsylvania (-67
percent), and California (-63 percent) registering the significant decreases.
Eighteen states posted annual increases in foreclosure starts, with substantial upsurges seen in
New Jersey (+538 percent), Arkansas (+455 percent), and New York (+209
percent).
The drop eased the number of foreclosure filings overall, which
include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions. Foreclosure
filings were reported on 180,817 U.S. properties in November and fell 3 percent
from October and 19 percent from a year ago. The yearly decline is the 26th
straight month of annual decreases in foreclosure filings.
While the worst may be over, foreclosures may still make a comeback.
“Foreclosures are continuing to hobble the U.S. housing market
as lenders finally seize properties that started the process a year or two ago
— and much longer in some cases,” said Daren Blomquist, VP at RealtyTrac.
“We’re likely not completely out of the woods when it comes to
foreclosure starts, either, as lenders are still adjusting to new foreclosure
ground rules set forth in the National
Mortgage Settlement along with
various state laws and court rulings,” he added.
While foreclosure filings and starts fell, bank repossessions
rose annually for the first time in 25 months.
RealtyTrac explained bank repossessions have been trending
downward since October 2010 when news began to surface of “robo-signing”
practices from banks, causing some major servicers to delay foreclosures while
their processes were being reviewed.
In November, 59,134 properties became bank repossessions, or
REOs, an increase of 11 percent from October and 5 percent from a year ago.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia saw yearly
increases in REO activity, with significant increases
seen in Indiana (+96 percent), Arkansas (+88 percent), and Missouri (+87
percent).
States where REO activity
saw a significant drop were Nevada (-64 percent), Oregon (-58 percent), and
Massachusetts (-49 percent).
In
Florida, one in every 304 housing units received a foreclosure filing, the highest
foreclosure rate among any other state. The national average shows one in every
728 housing units received a foreclosure filing in November, according to data
from RealtyTrac.
Even though Nevada saw its foreclosure activity decrease 54
percent from last year, the state had the second highest foreclosure rate (one
in every 390 housing units). Illinois was a close third, where one in every 392
housing units received a foreclosure filing.
Among the metros with the highest foreclosure rates, seven of
the top 10 metros were in Florida and the remaining three were in California.
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville had the highest foreclosure rate
(one in every 158 housing units) and was followed by Ocala (one in 210 housing
units).
Other Florida metros in the top 10 included Jacksonville, which
ranked No. 4, along with Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach ( No. 5),
Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice (No. 8), Port St. Lucie (No. 9), and Gainesville (No.
10).
The California metros were Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (No.
3), Stockton (No. 6), Modesto (No. 7).
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