Foreclosure filings fell in the opening half of 2010 while banks accelerated completion of repossessions, demonstrating the erratic trend in US foreclosure activity. California and Florida each recorded nearly as many filings in six months as the nation posted in June, while the shadow inventory of properties in default continues to put market recovery at risk. See the following article from Property Wire for more on this.
Property foreclosure filings in the US dropped 5% over the first half of 2010 as lenders continue to delay proceedings to focus on short sale and loan modification efforts, according to a new report.
More than 1.6 million homes received at least one filing, including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions over the last six months, according to the report from RealtyTrac.
That amounts to one in 78 homes and foreclosure filings remain 8% above the amount issued in the first half of last year. There is also concern that a backlog could be building up that might result in a double dip in the market if they are dumped at some date in the future.
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James Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac, said at the current pace, more than three million properties will receive a foreclosure filing by the end of the year, and lenders will repossess more than one million of them.
‘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,’ Saccacio said.
Foreclosure filings decreased 3% in June after another 3% drop in April, the third straight month of declines. Foreclosure filings were down 7% from June 2009. But despite the recent downward swing, June marked the 16th straight month of more than 300,000 filings
Foreclosures dropped 4% compared with the first quarter of the year and are 1% above the same time last year. Real Estate Owned (REO) properties increased 5% from the last quarter and 38% from the second quarter of 2009, the report also shows. It is the most REOs measured in a quarter since RealtyTrac began publishing the reports in January 2005.
‘The second quarter was a tale of two trends. The pace of properties entering foreclosure slowed as lenders pre-empted or delayed foreclosure proceedings on delinquent properties with more aggressive short sale and loan modification initiatives. Meanwhile the pace of properties completing the foreclosure process through bank repossession quickened as lenders cleared out a backlog of distressed inventory delayed by foreclosure prevention efforts in 2009,’ explained Saccacio.
Nevada still top the country’s foreclosure list with nearly 6% of all Nevada properties, one in 17 homes, receiving at least one filing in the first half of 2010. Arizona was next with 3.36% or one in 30 homes and Florida third with 3.15%.
More than 340,000 properties in California received a filing in the first half of 2010, the state holds the highest foreclosure volume. Florida was second with more than 277,000 properties.
This article has been republished from Property Wire. You can also view this article at Property Wire, an international real estate news site.
