ATTOM: Foreclosure Activity Drops to 10-Year Low

ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., reported 933,000 foreclosure filings in 2016, down by 14 percent from 2015 to its lowest level since 2006.

The company’s Year-End 2016 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report said foreclosure filings–default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions–totaled 933,045 U.S. properties in 2016. The report said 0.70 percent of all U.S. housing units had at least one foreclosure filing in 2016, the lowest annual foreclosure rate nationwide since 2006, when 0.58 percent of housing units had at least one foreclosure filing.

The report also reported 85,919 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in December, down by 1 percent from November and down by 17 percent from a year ago, the 15th consecutive month with a year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity.

Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, noted the national foreclosure rate stayed within an historically normal range for the third consecutive year in 2016, even as banks continued to clear out legacy foreclosures from the last housing bubble, particularly in the final quarter of the year.

“Foreclosures completed in the fourth quarter had been in the foreclosure process 803 days on average, a substantial jump from the third quarter and indicating that banks pushed through significant numbers of legacy foreclosures during the quarter,” Blomquist said. “Despite that push, we still show that more than half of all active foreclosures nationwide are on loans originated between 2004 and 2008, with a much higher share of legacy foreclosures in some markets.”

The report said nationwide, 55 percent of all loans actively in foreclosure as of the end of 2016 were originated between 2004 and 2008. The District of Columbia had the highest share of legacy foreclosures with 76 percent, followed by Hawaii (66 percent), New Jersey (64 percent), Nevada (63 percent), Delaware (61 percent), and Massachusetts (61 percent). By number, New Jersey led with 32,279 legacy foreclosures, followed by New York (31,838), Florida (29,411), California (17,208) and Illinois (12,244).

Among counties, the highest total number of legacy foreclosures were Nassau County (Long Island), N.Y. (8,632, representing 74 percent of all loans actively in foreclosure); Cook County (Chicago), (7,357 representing 53 percent); Kings County (Brooklyn), k (6,207 representing 68 percent); Miami-Dade County, (5,262 representing 64 percent); and Los Angeles County, (4,956 representing 64 percent).

The report noted 12 states and the District of Columbia posted an increase in overall foreclosure activity in 2016 compared to 2015, including Delaware (up 45 percent); Rhode Island (up 29 percent); Massachusetts (up 21 percent); Connecticut (up 21 percent); and Hawaii (up 20 percent).

Among 216 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, 53 (25 percent) posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in 2016, led by Provo-Orem, Utah (up 30 percent); Honolulu (up 29 percent); Lynchburg, Va. (up 29 percent); Springfield, Mass. (up 29 percent); and Tucson, Ariz. (up 27 percent).

ATTOM reported 478,857 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in 2016, down 16 percent from 2015 and down 78 percent from the peak of 2.139 million foreclosure starts in 2009 to the lowest level since the company began tracking foreclosure starts in 2006. However, it noted 15 states and the District of Columbia posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts in 2016, including Delaware (up 37 percent); Connecticut (up 35 percent); Maine (up 30 percent); Rhode Island (up 26 percent); Arizona (up 15 percent); and Massachusetts (up 12 percent).

The report cited 379,437 U.S. properties repossessed by lenders in 2016, down 16 percent from 2015 and down 64 percent from the peak of 1.050 million REOs in 2010 to the lowest level since 2006. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia posted a year-over-year increase in REOs in 2016, including Massachusetts (up 61 percent); Alabama (up 32 percent); New York (up 21 percent); Virginia (up 9 percent); and New Jersey (up 4 percent).

States with the highest foreclosure rates in 2016 were New Jersey (1.86 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing); Delaware (1.51 percent); Maryland (1.37 percent); Florida (1.18 percent); and Illinois (1.10 percent).

Among 216 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rate in 2016 were Atlantic City, N.J. (3.39 percent); Trenton, N.J. (2.16 percent); Rockford, Ill. (1.54 percent); Philadelphia (1.53 percent); and Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla. (1.46 percent).

The report also noted properties foreclosed in the fourth quarter had been in the foreclosure process an average of 803 days, a 29 percent jump from the previous quarter and a 27 percent increase from a year ago to the longest since ATTOM began tracking average foreclosure timelines in Q1 2007. Eight states reported the average time to foreclose in the fourth quarter took more than 1,000 days: Utah (1,403); New Jersey (1,383); New York (1,283); Hawaii (1,220); Florida (1,186); Indiana (1,033); Illinois (1,024); and Pennsylvania (1,010). States with the shortest average time to foreclose for properties foreclosed in the fourth quarter of 2016 were Virginia (223 days); Michigan (355 days); Oregon (362 days); Alabama (363 days); and Colorado (381 days).