October Saw Double Digits increases In Foreclosure Filings

A surge in scheduled auctions sent thernoverall rate of foreclosure activity surging in October. In its U.S.rnForeclosure Market Report released on Thursday RealtyTrac reported that auctionsrnwere scheduled for the first time on 59,869 U.S. properties during the month,rnthe largest number of such filings since May 2013.  This represented an increase of 24 percentrnfrom the number of such filings in September and a 7 percent increase from thernprevious October.  </p

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The increase occurred in both judicialrnforeclosure states, a jump of 21 percent month-over-month and an increase of  3 percent from the previous October, and inrnnon-judicial states where there were 27 percent more auctions scheduled than inrnSeptember and a year over year change of +14 percent. To put things inrnperspective, however during one month in the spring of 2010 there were 160,000rnauctions scheduled.  </p

This spike sent overall foreclosure numbers,rnwhich also include default notices and completed foreclosures or bankrnrepossessions up 15 percent from September, the largest month-over-monthrnincrease since the peak of activity in March 2010.  There were a total of 123,109 properties thatrnreceived some type of foreclosure filing during the month, one in every 1,069rnU.S. housing units.  Filings were down 8rnpercent compared to October 2013. </p

“The October foreclosure numbers arernnot a complete surprise given that over the past three years there has been anrnaverage 8 percent monthly uptick in scheduled foreclosure auctions in Octoberrnas banks try to get ahead of the usual holiday foreclosure moratoriums,” saidrnDaren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “But the sheer magnitude of thernincrease this year demonstrates there is more than just a seasonal pattern atrnwork. Distressed properties that have been in a holding pattern for years arernfinally being cleared for landing at the foreclosure auction. </p

“There is still strong demand fromrnthe large institutional investors at the foreclosure auction in some markets,rnbut even in markets with decreasing demand at the foreclosure auction, banksrncan be confident in selling REO properties quickly and at a good price,”rnBlomquist continued. “That’s because there is still strong demand from buyers,rnparticularly in the lower price ranges, combined with a dearth of distressedrnhomes listed for sale.”  </p

Scheduled auctions increased fromrnlast October in 29 states with increases in Oregon (+399 percent), NorthrnCaroline (+288 percent) and New Jersey (+118 percent) far exceeding thernnational percentage uptick as well as that in other states in the top ten.</p

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There were 27,914 repossessions orrncompleted foreclosures in October, a 22 percent increase from September butrndown 26 percent compared to a year earlier. rnIt was the largest monthly increase since June 2009.  Maryland’s bank repossessions grew by 190rnpercent year over year far overshadowing the states that followed; Pennsylvania,rnNew Jersey, Oregon, and New York all had annual increases of 25 percent orrnless.</p

Foreclosure starts also jumped, uprn12 percent in October compared to September, the largest monthly increase sincernAugust 2011.  There were a total ofrn56,452 properties put into foreclosure during the month. </p

The highest rate of overall foreclosurernactivity was in Maryland with a total of 5,942 filings, up 68 percent fromrnSeptember and 30 percent compared to a year earlier.  It was the highest number of foreclosurernfilings in the state since July 2010 with one in every 400 housing unitsrnreceiving one. </p

Florida finally fell from itsrnlong-time number one position for foreclosure activity to number to inrnOctober.  One in every 444 housing unitsrnin Florida received a filing, a two percent decrease from September and down 25rnpercent from a year earlier.  It was thern15^th month when the state saw a decline in overall foreclosurernfilings. </p

One in every 596 Nevada housingrnunits had a foreclosure filing in October, the nation’s third highest foreclosurernrate. Activity in the state jumped by a little more than a third month overrnmonth but was still down 31 percent from a year ago.</p

Other states in the top five forrnforeclosure activity were Ohio (one in 674 housing units) and Illinois (one inrn712 units,)

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