(Mark Your Calendars: RealShare REAL ESTATE 2012, March 22nd in Los Angeles).
IRVINE, CA-While CoreLogic reports a 24% drop in national foreclosures in 2011, as GlobeSt.com just recently reported, RealtyTrac’s numbers just came in for January, showing that foreclosure filings—which includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions—were reported on 210,941 US properties in January, a 3% increase from the previous month.
Even though there was an increase, the number is still down 19% from January 2011. “Although overall foreclosure activity was down from a year ago for the 16th straight month in January, we continue to see signs on a local and regional level that the frozen-up foreclosure process is beginning to thaw,” explains Brandon Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac. “Foreclosure activity increased on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than 12 months in Florida, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania, following a pattern we saw in late 2011 in states such as California, Arizona and Massachusetts.
Moore points out that “We expect the pattern of increasing foreclosures to continue in the coming months, especially given the finalized mortgage and foreclosure settlement reached in early February between 49 state attorneys general and five of the nation’s largest lenders.” He continues that “The settlement sets forth clear guidelines for lenders and servicers to follow when foreclosing, which should allow them to push through some of the delayed foreclosures from last year. Other roadblocks to foreclosure are still in place at the state level, however, including legislation altering the foreclosure process and lawsuits against lenders. We expect to see somewhat uneven trends in local and regional foreclosure numbers going forward as lenders work through these additional legislative and legal roadblocks.”
According to RealtyTrac, default notices were filed for the first time on a total of 58,362 US properties in January, unchanged from the previous month but down 22% from January 2011. Foreclosure auctions were scheduled on 86,037 US properties in January, up 1% from December, but still down 20% from January 2011. Lenders repossessed a total of 66,542 US properties in January, an 8% increase from December but still a 15% decrease from January 2011.
With one in every 198 housing units with a foreclosure filing in January, Nevada posted the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for the 61st straight month—despite an 8% decrease in foreclosure activity from December, says RealtyTrac. A total of 5,931 Nevada properties had a foreclosure filing in January, down 52% from January 2011 and a 52-month low.
Foreclosure starts at low levels in Oregon, where scheduled auctions dropped to a 40-month low, and in Washington, where scheduled auctions averaged fewer than 1,000 per month from October through January after averaging more than 2,100 per month in the first nine months of 2011.
For California, foreclosure activity dropped to a 50-month low in January, but the state still posted the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate: one in every 265 housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month. A total of 51,584 California properties had a foreclosure filing in January, down 23% from January 2011
Nine out of the nation’s 10 highest foreclosure rates among metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more were in California. The only exception was Las Vegas, which ranked No. 5 with one in every 172 housing units with a foreclosure filing in January. Reporting one in every 140 housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month, Stockton, CA, posted the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate for the fourth month in a row, followed by Modesto, CA at No. 2 (one in every 143 housing units), Riverside-San Bernardino, CA at No. 3 (one in 164 housing units), and Vallejo-Fairfield, CA at No. 4 (one in every 168 housing units).
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
