RealtyTrac reports that foreclosures dropped in 38 states in June and are now down 23% when compared to the first six months of last year. On a monthly basis, states with the biggest decreases included Nevada (84%), Colorado (62%) and New Jersey (40%), although experts note that not all states are enjoying the same successes. Arkansas and Oklahoma both saw foreclosures increase more than 100%, while Maryland, Washington and New Jersey also continued to struggle. Some of this is due to states being in judicial foreclosure jurisdictions, which means it takes longer for foreclosures to process, but even so experts believe the nation is very close to normalizing on foreclosure front. For more on this continue reading the following article from Property Wire.
Residential property foreclosures in the US have fallen to a six and a half year low and were down 19% from the first half of the year and down 23% compared with the first six months of 2012.
The latest data from RealtyTrac shows that foreclosure starts in June decreased from the previous month in 38 states, including Nevada which was down 84%, Colorado down 62%, New Jersey down 40%, Illinois down 39% and Florida down 26%.
Bank repossessions (REO) in June decreased 9% from the previous month and were down 35% from a year ago. They decreased from a year ago in 34 states, but there were some notable exceptions where bank repossessions were up from a year ago, including Arkansas up 143%, Oklahoma up 103%, Maryland up 74%, Washington up 71%, New Jersey up 33% and New York up 21%.
‘Halfway through 2013 it is becoming increasingly evident that while foreclosures are no longer a problem nationally they continue to be a thorn in the side of several state and local markets, particularly where a backlog of delayed distress has built up thanks to a lengthy foreclosure process,’ said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.
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‘An increase in judicial foreclosure auctions demonstrate that these delayed foreclosure cases are now being moved more quickly through to foreclosure completion. Given the rising home prices in most of these markets, it is an opportune time for lenders to dispose of these distressed properties, either at the foreclosure auction to a third party buyer, or by repossessing the property at the auction and subsequently selling it as a bank owned home,’ he explained.
There were also fewer homes entering the foreclosure process, while lenders seized less homes. In the first six months of the year, banks took over 248,538 homes, putting repossessions on track for about 500,000 for the year, which would be down from the over 671,000 seen last year.
‘We are getting tantalizingly close to being back to normal, healthy foreclosure levels, at least on a nationwide basis,’ added Blomquist.
He pointed out that the time it takes to foreclose continued to lengthen. Properties foreclosed in the second quarter took an average 526 days to foreclose, up from 577 days in the first quarter.
‘Once that number turns the corner and starts going down, that will be a strong indication that the lenders and courts have worked through the backlog and now we’re just dealing with the fresher vintage of foreclosures,’ said Blomquist.
Foreclosure times were the longest in New York and New Jersey, with both states taking 1,033 days.
This article was republished with permission from Property Wire.
