Last month, there were foreclosure filings on 19,479 properties in the U.S., according to ATTOM Data’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. This represents a decline of 5% from the month before but a 94% increase from a year ago, according to the report.
Let’s put it in perspective…
Data and statistics are funny things. Even when accurately presented they can paint a picture that may sound worse, or better than the real situation behind the data. This is why I consistently suggest that people don’t base opinions of the market, or make decisions, on one piece of data. It takes many pieces of data to really paint the whole picture, just like in this case. The headline that was reported by ATTOM Data (and repeatedly in many publications) is accurate, foreclosures are up 94% from a year ago. But if there are currently 19,479 properties with a foreclosure filing, that means there were just 10,040 filings a year ago. Granted, its bad to have anyone lose their home, but, historically speaking, these foreclosure numbers are low..very low. For example, in April 2010, a couple of years after the housing bubble burst, there were 367,056 foreclosure filings that month. So, last months number of 19,479 is 94% lower than April 2010.
Again, I’m not minimizing the significance of a foreclosure or the effect it has on those affected by it, I’m just trying to paint a more clear picture to show at this time, even though we’ve seen an increase, the numbers are still pretty low.
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