Foreclosure Spikes Signal "Spring Cleaning" RealtyTrac says

As the housing industry continues to recover we seernoccasional troublesome spikes in one statistic or another.  RealtyTrac reported a couple of such statisticsrnin its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for January, surges that, at first glancernlook ominous, but are probably good news.</p

First, RealtyTrac reports that overall foreclosure activityrnincreased during the month, driven primarily by a large uptick in completedrnforeclosures or bank repossessions which surged to a 15 month high and a muchrnsmaller increase in scheduled foreclosure auctions.  Rather than signaling further trouble,rnhowever these numbers, occurring as they do in the last two steps in the process,rnare likely indications that lenders are finally, to paraphrase Daren Blomquist,rnRealtyTrac vice president, “cleaning up.” rn</p

RealtyTrac reports that overall foreclosure activity duringrnthe month included filings – default notices, scheduled auctions, andrnrepossessions – on 119,800 properties nationwide, a 5 percent increase fromrnDecember but 4 percent fewer filings than in January 2014.   Thernnumber represents a filing on one of every 1,102 housing units in the country.</p

Bank repossessions soared by 55 percent from December with arntotal of 37,292 properties foreclosed during the month.  This was an increase of 23 percent from Januaryrn2014 and the highest monthly total since October 2013.  Still, the January figure was down 63 percentrnfrom the peak of 102,134 inrnSeptember 2010.  </p

“The year-over-year increase in REOs inrnJanuary was the first annual increase nationwide following 25 consecutivernmonths of declines, getting the foreclosure spring cleaning we anticipated inrnour last foreclosure report off to a quick start in 2015,” Blomquist said.rn”Meanwhile, the number of future foreclosure auctions scheduled in Januaryrncontinued to increase in many states, foreshadowing more foreclosure springrncleaning to come in the next several months in those states.”</p

</p

</p

Twenty-seven states posted year-over-yearrnincreases in completed foreclosures, many rising to levels not seen in monthsrnor even years.  Among states with thernmost dramatic increases were Ohio (+197 percent), New Jersey (+116 percent to arn51-month high), Maryland (+100 percent), Washington (+75 percent to a 39-monthrnhigh), Arizona (+61 percent to a 20-month high), California (+58 percent to arn24-month high), Pennsylvania (+44 percent to a 42-month high), Michigan (+39rnpercent to a 16-month high), North Carolina (+38 percent to a 15-month high),rnTexas (+24 percent to a 16-month high), and New York (+24 percent to a 55-monthrnhigh.)</p

Foreclosure auctions were scheduled forrna total of 51,782 properties in January up 8 percent from the previous monthrnbut 7 percent fewer than a year ago and 67 percent below the peak of 158,105 inrnMarch 2010. Scheduled auctions were up in 21 states compared to one yearrnearlier.  Among the largest increases wasrna 268 percent jump in Massachusetts, 125 percent in New Jersey, and 111 percentrnin North Carolina.  New York rose 79rnpercent to a 55 month high and Missouri was up 74 percent to a 29 month high.</p

</p

“It’s important to note that in most ofrnthese states, foreclosure auctions and REOs are coming off somewhatrnartificially low levels last year and are still far below the highs reachedrnduring the worst of the foreclosure crisis back 2009 and 2010,” Blomquistrnnoted.</p

After spiking to a 17 month high atrnyear end foreclosure starts retreated 18 percent in January to a total ofrn48,838 properties.  This was down 15rnpercent from a year earlier and broke a two month streak of year-over-yearrnincreases.</p

Nineteen states had larger numbers ofrnforeclosures starts than a year earlier. rnIn Nevada starts were up 255 percent and Indiana and Massachusetts saw increasesrnof 45 percent and 14 percent respectively.</p

There were some hot spots amongrnmetropolitan areas.  In nine of the 20 mostrnpopulous there were overall increases in foreclosure activity compared to arnyear earlier with the largest in St. Louis where filings increased 47 percentrnprimarily because of a 51 percent growth in scheduled auctions.  The 1,116 total filings in the area was alsorna month-over-month gain of 52 percent. </p

</p

Phoenix also saw jump in activity withrnfilings up 104 percent for the month to a 20 month high and a 45 percentrnincrease from the previous January. rnForeclosure auctions – which constitute foreclosure starts in Arizona,rnincreased 37 percent from a year earlier and bank repossessions were up 58rnpercent.  </p

San Francisco had 1,279 filings, anrnincrease of 49 percent from December and 35 percent from a year earlier.  In Los Angeles 5,663 filings represented arn+59 percent change from December and +34 percent from a year earlier. rnThere were 1,874 filings in Seattle, a 19 month high and 63 percent more thanrnin December and 31 percent above filings a year earlier.</p

The nation’s highest level ofrnforeclosure activity was again in Florida where one in every 441 housing unitsrnreceived a filing during the month. rnActivity in the state however was down 21 percent from a yearrnearlier.  Nevada was second nationallyrnwith filings on one in every 493 housing units and Maryland, with a one in 611rnfiling rate, was third. 

All Content Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Brown House Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.nReproduction in any form without permission of MortgageNewsDaily.com is prohibited.