Where to Find Foreclosures

When the housing bubble burst in 2007 and more than six million families lost their homes, the pain was greatest in markets where lax lending standards (which have since been outlawed) were the most widespread. Florida, Nevada, Arizona, and California—the so-called “sand states”—led the nation in foreclosures.

What has changed since then?

Today, the foreclosure picture has changed dramatically. Last year’s number of 1.1 million foreclosure filings was the lowest annual total since 2006, the year the housing bubble began to burst.[1] The number of completed foreclosures in January 2016 was down 67.6 percent from the peak of 117,743 in September 2010.[2]

The geography of foreclosures also has changed. Today, Florida and California remain in the top five states for foreclosures. The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in January 2016 were:

1. Florida (74,000)
2. Michigan (49,000)
3. Texas (29,000)
4. California (25,000)
5. Ohio (24,000)
6.  

These five states accounted for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.

“In 2015 we saw a return to normal, healthy foreclosure activity in many markets even as banks continued to clean up some of the last vestiges of distress left over from the last housing crisis,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “The increase in bank repossessions that we saw for the year was evidence of this cleanup phase, which largely involves completing foreclosure on highly distressed, low-value properties.[3]

“Meanwhile, local economic problems became a larger driver of foreclosure activity in 2015,” Blomquist said. “Examples of this are Atlantic City, New Jersey, which posted the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate for the year, along with several heavy oil-producing markets in Texas and Oklahoma where foreclosure activity increased in 2015, counter to the national trend.”

Foreclosure rates are on the rise in other areas

In 24 states and the District of Columbia—many of which missed the massive defaults seven years ago—there was an increase in foreclosure activity in 2015 compared to 2014. These included Northeastern states like Massachusetts (up 55 percent) and New York (up 24 percent), where home price increases have lagged and states suffering from the downturn in oil prices like Oklahoma (up 36 percent),) and Texas (up 16 percent). States with the highest foreclosure rates in 2015 were New Jersey (1.91 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing), Florida (1.77 percent), Maryland (1.60 percent), Nevada (1.40 percent), and Illinois (1.26 percent). 

 

Among the nation’s 20 largest metro areas, six posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in 2015: Boston (up 44 percent, St. Louis (up 38 percent), Dallas (up 25 percent), Detroit (up 22 percent), New York (up 9 percent), and Houston (up less than 1 percent).[4]

Metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates in 2015 were Atlantic City, New Jersey (3.43 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing); Trenton, New Jersey (2.14 percent); Tampa Bay-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida (2.03 percent); Jacksonville, Florida (2.02 percent); and Miami (1.98 percent).

What does this mean for you?

If you’re considering an investment in a foreclosure, you may no longer be limited to searching in areas that were hardest hit by the housing crisis. That may mean that you find a greater variety of foreclosures in more popular neighborhoods.

It may also, however, mean more competition. And when the process of buying a foreclosure is already so complex, more competition isn’t exactly welcome.

source: totalmortgage.com

Fewer U.S. Homes Entered Foreclosure Track in 3Q

LOS ANGELES -- The number of U.S. homes set on the path to foreclosure slid to a seven-year low in the third quarter, reflecting a gradually improving housing market and fewer homeowners falling behind on mortgage payments.

Lenders initiated foreclosure action on 174,366 homes in the July-September period, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2006, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

Foreclosure starts declined 13 percent from the previous quarter and were down 39 percent from the third quarter last year, the firm said.

The national slowdown in foreclosure starts comes as the U.S. housing market continues to recover from a deep slump, a rebound driven by rising home prices, steady job growth and fewer troubled loans dating back to the housing bubble days. Fewer homes entering the foreclosure pipeline should translate into fewer properties that eventually end up lost to foreclosure.

"It's looking really good that there are not more coming into the pipeline," said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac. "Barring any other economic shock to the system, we expect that to bode well going forward."



Foreclosure starts fell on an annual basis in the third quarter in 38 states, including Colorado, Arizona, California and Illinois. They increased from a year earlier in 11 states, including Maryland, Oregon, New Jersey and Connecticut.

While fewer homes are entering the foreclosure process, lenders stepped up home repossessions, which led to a quarterly increase in homes lost to foreclosure.

Completed foreclosures rose 7 percent in the third quarter versus the April-June period, the firm said. Completed foreclosures were down 24 percent from the third quarter last year, however.

All told, 119,485 homes were taken back by lenders in the July-September quarter. That puts the nation on pace to end this year with roughly 507,497 completed foreclosures, or down about 24 percent from 2012's total.

Foreclosures peaked in 2010 at 1.05 million and have been declining ever since.

The number of homes taken back by banks in the third quarter climbed from the previous quarter in 26 states, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Virginia, RealtyTrac said.

Much of the quarterly increase in foreclosures came about in states where courts oversee the foreclosure process. Those courts were backed up with cases two years ago, but have been making progress working through their backlog.

Even so, it's taking longer for homes in many states to complete the foreclosure process.

In the third quarter, it took an average of 551 days, or 1.5 years, for a U.S. home to move from initial default status to ultimately being repossessed by the lender, the firm said.

That's up from an average of 526 days in the second quarter and an increase from 382 days in the third quarter of last year.

"It's a sign that we're still dealing with the wreckage of the last housing bust," Blomquist said.

In New York, it took an average of 1,037 days, or nearly three years, for the foreclosure process to run its course in the third quarter, the longest of any state. Maine clocked the shortest average time to foreclose at 160 days.

The impact of foreclosures remains sharply elevated in some states. Florida topped the nation with a foreclosure rate of more than twice the national average in the third quarter.

Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates in the July-September period were: Nevada, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, Indiana and South Carolina.

source: dailyfinance.com