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IRVINE, CA-US bank repossessions decreased 11% in February from the previous month and were down 29% from February 2012 to the lowest level since September 2007—a 65-month low—according to a report from RealtyTrac, a locally based online marketplace for foreclosure properties and real estate data. However, foreclosure filings increased 2% nationally in February from the previous month, reaching a 17-month high in Nevada and an even longer time period in other states.
“At a high level, the US foreclosure inferno has been effectively contained and should be reduced to a slow burn in the next two years,” said Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac, in a prepared statement. “But dangerous foreclosure flare-ups are still popping up in states where foreclosures have been delayed by a lengthy court process or by new legislation, making it more difficult to foreclose outside of the court system. Foreclosure starts have been steadily building in those states over the last several months and likely will end up as bank repossessions or short sales later this year.”
Nevada's foreclosure starts in February increased 334% from a year ago, keeping the state's foreclosure rate as the second-highest nationwide for the fifth month in a row. One in every 320 Nevada housing units had a foreclosure filing in February, more than twice the national average.
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As GlobeSt.com reported last week, California cities dominate the list of best markets in which to buy short-sale properties, according to a recent report from RealtyTrac. The report shows that Santa Barbara tops the list of cities in the report, which analyzed data from fourth-quarter 2012 in more than 900 metro areas nationwide. Other high-ranking cities, in descending order, are Visalia-Porterville, Fresno, Vallejo-Fairfield, Bakersfield, Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto and Riverside.
Check back later for an update to this story featuring an interactive heat map that shows specifically where foreclosure flare-ups are occurring throughout the country.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
