By Dennis Norman, on June 23rd, 2012 
The mortgage delinquency rate (the percentage of home loans 30 or more days past due) increased in May 1.1 percent from the month before according to the latest “First Watch Report” from Lenders Processing Services (LPS). While it’s a modest increase, this marks the second consecutive month we’ve seen an increase in mortgage delinquency rates reversing the downward trend for the 9 months prior which is not good. Since delinquent mortgages are the precursor to forelcosures and foreclosures have wreaked havoc on home prices, this is something we definitely want to keep an eye on. Continue reading “Mortgage delinquencies increase for second-consecutive month“
By Dennis Norman, on August 13th, 2010  Dennis Norman I remember, not that long ago, when 300,000 foreclosures in a month would have seemed unreal. However, July now marks the 17th consecutive month that there have been foreclosure filings exceeding 300,000 for the month.
Continue reading “Foreclosure Activity Increases In July; Down from a year ago“
By Dennis Norman, on July 15th, 2010 Dennis Norman According to a report released this morning by RealtyTrac there were 1,961,894 foreclosure filings in the first six months of 2010 on 1,654,634 housing units in the U.S. This reflects a 5 percent decrease from foreclosure activity for the prior 6 month period but is an 8 percent increase from the same period of 2009. What is just a sickening statistic in the report is that, during the first six months of 2010, 1.28 percent of all housing units in the U.S., or one in 78, received at least one foreclosure filing during that period.
For the month of June there were foreclosure filings reported on 313,841 U.S. properties, a decrease of nearly 3 percent from May and a decrease of nearly 7 percent from June 2009. However, June marked the sixteenth consecutive month with over 300,000 foreclosure filings during the month.
James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said “the midyear numbers put us on pace to exceed 3 million properties with foreclosure filings by the end of the year, and more than 1 million bank repossessions…….the roller coaster pattern of foreclosure activity over the past 12 months demonstrates that while the foreclosure problem is being managed on the surface, a massive number of distressed properties and underwater loans continues to sit just below the surface, threatening the fragile stability of the housing market.”
States with Highest Foreclosure Rates in first half of 2010-
- Nevada – One in ever 17 housing units
- Arizona – One in every 30 housing units
- Florida – One in every 32 housing units
- California – One in every 39 housing units
- Utah- One in every 52 housing units
- Georgia – One in every 56 housing units
- Michigan – One in every 58 housing units
- Idaho – One in every 60 housing units
- Illinois – One in every 62 housing units
- Colorado – One in every 71 housing units
So while it is good to see the month-over-month foreclosure rates decrease the rates continue to hover around record levels which is not good. Plus, as Mr. Saccacio addresses with his comment about the massive numbers of distressed properties and underwater loans “sitting just below the surface” and as I addressed last week in my post ‘Shadow’ Foreclosure Inventory is the 800 lb Gorilla, this problem is far from over unfortunately.
By Dennis Norman, on June 10th, 2010
Dennis Norman The good news is, foreclosure activity for the U.S. in May decreased by 3 percent according to a report released by RealtyTrac. The bad news is, May marked the 15 th consecutive month where the overall foreclosure activity has surpassed 300,000 actions; that’s about 4 million foreclosures in the past 15 months.
For May there were foreclosure filings reported on 322,920 properties in the U.S., a 3 percent decrease from April but a 1 percent increase from May 2009. One in every 400 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month of May.
“The numbers in May continued and confirmed the trends we noticed in April: overall foreclosure activity leveling off while lenders work through the backlog of distressed properties that have built up over the past 20 months,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Defaults and scheduled auctions combined increased by 28 percent from 2007 to 2008 and another 32 percent from 2008 to 2009 — creating a build-up of delayed bank repossessions. Lenders appear to be ramping up the pace of completing those forestalled foreclosures even while the inflow of delinquencies into the foreclosure process has slowed.”
Bank Repo’s Hit Record in May–
The number of properties actually taken back (foreclosed upon) in May was 93,777 breaking the prior month’s record high and setting a new record.
States with Highest Foreclosure Rates in May-
- Nevada – One in ever 79 housing units
- Arizona – One in every 169 housing units
- Florida – One in every 174 housing units
- California – One in every 186 housing units
- Michigan – One in every 223 housing units
The CEO of RealtyTrac stated above that he thinks the foreclosure rate is “leveling off”, which I would certainly hope is true….I don’t know how we can possibly sustain it continuing to increase. I think it is important to note though, we are talking about the rate leveling off at record-high levels and there is no indication the rate is going to drop anytime soon, therefore it is going to be a while before the aftershock of this wears off. Mortgage defaults, the “fuel” for the foreclosure rate, are starting to show signs of leveling off as well but until we see the default rate drop and continue to trend downward we will not see a significant or meaningful downward trend in the foreclosure rate.
By Dennis Norman, on April 29th, 2010  RealtyTrac® released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for the first quarter of 2010, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 932,234 U.S. properties during the first quarter of 2010, an increase of 16 percent from the first quarter of 2009 (which, I should remind you, was up 24 percent from the first quarter of 2008).
According to the report, the 20 metro areas with the highest rates of foreclosures were still contained to four states:
- California – 10 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates
- Florida – 7 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates
- Nevada – 2 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates
- Arizona – 1 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates
The year-over-year foreclosure rate declined in 14 of the 20 top metro areas and in eight of the cities in the top 10, so there is some encouragement for these four states that have been hammered by foreclosures.
“The decreasing foreclosure activity in some of the nation’s top foreclosure hot spots in the first quarter is largely the result of government intervention and other non-market influences, and not a sure signal that those areas are out of the woods yet when it comes to foreclosures,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “For example, the federal government’s new program designed to encourage short sales, which was launched April 5, may have caused some lenders to delay initiating foreclosure against distressed properties — particularly in hard-hit housing markets where a short sale costs less than a foreclosure.”
Top 10 metro foreclosure rates:
- Las Vegas continued to post the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate in the first quarter, with one in 28 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing (3.51 percent) — 4.9 times the national average. A total of 28,480 Las Vegas housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, an increase of nearly 13 percent from the previous quarter but a decrease of 19 percent from the first quarter of 2009.
- Modesto, Calif., foreclosure activity decreased 13 percent from the first quarter of 2009, but the metro area still documented the nation’s second highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 34 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing (2.93 percent).
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida, #3 with one in every 35 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing (2.82 percent)
- Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., #4 (2.82 percent)
- Stockton, Calif.,#5 (2.77 percent)
- Merced, Calif., # 6 (2.76 percent)
- Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., #7 (2.63 percent)
- Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif., # 8 (2.41 percent)
- Bakersfield, Calif., # 9 (2.33 percent).
- Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, #10 (2.30 percent)
Cities outside Sun Belt post big increases:
Several cities in the top 100 but not in the top 20 posted substantial year-over-year increases, continuing the trend of foreclosure activity spreading to areas previously protected from the brunt of the real estate slump.
Foreclosure activity increased nearly 171 percent from the first quarter of 2009 in Columbia, S.C., and the city’s foreclosure rate ranked No. 99, with one in every 202 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.
Baltimore’s first quarter foreclosure rate was also below the national average, with one in every 170 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, but the city’s foreclosure activity increased nearly 141 percent from the first quarter of 2009.
Salt Lake City and Charlotte, N.C. also posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity of more than 100 percent.
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