Search

Judicial States Working Through Huge Backlog of Distressed Properties

by devteam November 14th, 2013 | Share

Judicialrnstates playing catchup were behind a rise in foreclosure activity in October accordingrnto RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. rnForeclosure filings – defaultrnnotices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – were reported on 133,919rnU.S. properties in October, a 2 percent increase from the previous month but arn28 percent decrease from a year ago. This represents a filing on one in everyrn978 U.S. housing units. </p

While most of the components ofrnforeclosure activity are decreasing on a national basis there are increases,rnsome of them large, in a number of states. rnStates with a judicial foreclosure system, one in which the courts mustrnapprove certain steps in the process, continue to work through what are in somerncases huge backlog of distressed properties. rnThere were a total of 30,023 scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions nationwidernin October, up 10 percent from the previous month and up 7 percent from a yearrnago, the 16th consecutive month of annual increases. </p

</p

States with the biggest annualrnincreases in scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions included Maryland (+177rnpercent), Delaware (+142 percent), New York (+98 percent), New Jersey (+97rnpercent), and Pennsylvania (+58 percent).</p

“The backlog of delayed judicialrnforeclosures continues to make its way through the pipeline, with many of thesernproperties now being scheduled for the public auction after starting thernforeclosure process last year or earlier this year,” said Daren Blomquist, vicernpresident at RealtyTrac. “Lenders are likely moving these properties morernrapidly to the public auction given that there is strong demand fromrninstitutional buy-to-rent investors at the auction and that rising home pricesrnmean more of the loan losses can be recouped, either by selling to an investorrnat the auction or by repossessing the property and reselling as bankrnowned.”   </p

Foreclosures were initiated onrn58,939 properties nationwide, an increase of 2 percent from September but downrn34 percent from one year earlier. rnOctober was the 15th consecutive month where foreclosurernstarts have decreased on an annual basis. rnStarts increased in 22 states and some of these increases werernsubstantial including in Colorado (+124 percent), Florida (+36 percent), andrnIllinois (+30 percent).</p

Foreclosures were completed (i.e.rnbank repossessions or REO) on a total of 37,775 bank repossessions nationwidernin October, down 1 percent from the previous month and down 29 percent from arnyear ago – the 11th consecutive month where bank repossessions haverndecreased annually.  Fifteen states saw repossessionsrnincrease from a year ago, including Oklahoma (+59 percent), Maryland (+54rnpercent), Virginia (+47 percent), Ohio and Washington (+30 percent each.) </p

RealtyTrac quoted OklahomarnCity/Tulsa real estate executive Sheldon Detrick about the large increase inrnhis state.  “People who defaulted threernyears ago are just now beginning the rest of the foreclosure process, whichrnexplains the recent rise in bank repossessions in Oklahoma.  When home prices were heading downward banksrnwould sometimes send default notices to homeowners but allow them to stay inrnthe home without making payments if the homeowner would maintain the home andrnkeep it in good condition.  Now that the economy is improving and homernprices are rising, banks are willing to complete the foreclosure process ifrnhomeowners don’t start making their payments again.” </p

Perennial foreclosure hotspots</bFlorida and Nevada continue to top the charts. rnFlorida saw a 22 percent month-over-month increase in foreclosurernactivity driven primarily by a 36 percent increase in foreclosure starts.  A total of 26,962 Florida properties hadrnforeclosure filings during the month, one in every 332 housing units.  Nevada, while still second in activityrnnationwide, saw a 39 percent decrease from September's 21 month high when manyrnbanks apparently rushed to complete foreclosures ahead of implementation of thernNevada Homeowner Bill of Rights.  </p

Maryland posted the nation’s thirdrnhighest state foreclosure rate in October, up from the No. 4 spot in September,rnthanks to a 10 percent monthly increase and 201 percent year-over-year increasernin foreclosure activity, the 16th consecutive month where Marylandrnforeclosure activity has increased on an annual basis. One in every 516rnMaryland housing units had a foreclosure filing in October.</p

Other states in the top ten were Ohiornwhere one in every 525 housing units received a foreclosure filing, andrnIllinois (one in every 552 units.), Utah, South Carolina, Delaware,rnConnecticut, and Georgia. Miami, Tampa, Chicago, Baltimore and Riverside-SanrnBernardino, were the metropolitan areas among the country’s 20 largest with thernhighest foreclosure rates.</p

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

About the Author

devteam

Steven A Feinberg (@CPAsteve) of Appletree Business Services LLC, is a PASBA member accountant located in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

See all blogs
Share

Comments

Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

Latest Articles

Real Estate Investors Skip Paying Loans While Raising Billions

By John Gittelsohn August 24, 2020, 4:00 AM PDT Some of the largest real estate investors are walking away from Read More...

Late-Stage Delinquencies are Surging

Aug 21 2020, 11:59AM Like the report from Black Knight earlier today, the second quarter National Delinquency Survey from the Read More...

Published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

It was recently published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which is about as official as you can Read More...