US Mortgage Defaults Leveling Off but Repos Rising
There were signs last month that mortgage default activity is slowing, but more people who enter foreclosure are losing their homes. US foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — rose 2% in October to 224,451, and were up 94% from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.
Default notices were down nearly 9% in October, indicating that some of the efforts on the part of homeowners, lenders and advocacy groups to find alternatives to foreclosure may be starting to have an impact, RealtyTrac said. “On the other hand, bank repossessions were up nearly 35%, evidence that more homeowners who enter foreclosure are losing their homes.”
Overall foreclosure activity continues to register at a high level compared to last year, but it appears to have leveled off over the past two months after hitting a high for the year in August.
Nevada documented the highest foreclosure rate among the states for the tenth straight month, with one foreclosure filing for every 154 households — 3.6 times the national average. A total of 6,618 foreclosure filings were reported in the state for the month, a 20% increase from the previous month and nearly triple the number reported in October 2006.
California foreclosure activity decreased nearly 2% from the previous month, but the state’s foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 258 households still ranked second highest among the states. A total of 50,401 foreclosure filings were reported in the state for the month, more than triple the number reported in October 2006.
Florida’s foreclosure rate — one foreclosure filing for every 273 households — ranked third highest among the states in October. With 30,190 foreclosure filings reported for the month, the state’s foreclosure activity was down more than 9% from the previous month but still up nearly 165% from October 2006.
Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s 10 highest were Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, Indiana and Illinois. Ohio’s foreclosure filing total of 17,276 was third highest behind the totals in California and Florida. The state’s foreclosure activity increased nearly 10% from the previous month and was up 136% from October 2006. Ohio’s foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 290 households ranked fourth highest among the states.
With 13,415 foreclosure filings reported in October, Michigan documented the nation’s fourth highest foreclosure filing total and the sixth highest foreclosure rate — one foreclosure filing for every 334 households. The state’s foreclosure activity was down nearly 6% from the previous month but was up nearly 63% from October 2006.
Texas documented the fifth highest state total, with 12,288 foreclosure filings in October — a 16% decrease from the previous month but a 26% increase from October 2006. The state’s foreclosure rate — one foreclosure filing for every 735 households — dropped out of the top 10 and registered below the national average. Other states with foreclosure totals among the nation’s 10 highest were Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New York and Arizona.
RealtyTrac’s report includes documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).
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