ATTOM: April Foreclosure Activity Down 13%
ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., said foreclosure filings, including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, fell by 5 percent in April from March and by 13 percent from a year ago.
The company’s monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report said foreclosure filings involved 55,646 properties in April.
Earlier this week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported mortgage delinquencies rose in the first quarter, while foreclosure inventories remained at nearly 25-year lows.
The MBA National Delinquency Survey reported the delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.42 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter. Despite the 36 basis point uptick on a quarterly basis, the delinquency rate fell by 21 basis points from a year ago. The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started last quarter fell by 5 basis points from a year ago and by 2 basis points from the fourth quarter (to 0.23 percent).
ATTOM reported lenders started the foreclosure process on 30,524 U.S. properties in April, down 5 percent from March and down by 10 percent from a year ago, the third consecutive month with an annual decline.
“While overall foreclosure activity is down nationwide, there are still parts of the country that we need to keep a close eye on,” said ATTOM Chief Product Officer Todd Teta. “For instance, Florida is seeing a steady annual increase in total foreclosure activity for the 8th consecutive month, which is being sustained by a constant annual double-digit increase in foreclosure starts.”
Other report findings:
–States that posted annual decreases in foreclosure starts in April included New York (down 43 percent); Nevada (36 percent); Colorado (34 percent); Maryland (31 percent); and Michigan (25 percent). Metro areas that saw decreases in starts included Orlando (up 90 percent); Miami (45 percent); Columbus, Ohio (35 percent); Portland, Ore. (31 percent); and El Paso, Texas (22 percent).
–States with the highest foreclosure rates were New Jersey (one in every 980 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Maryland (one in every 1,218 housing units); Delaware (one in every 1,249 housing units); Illinois (one in every 1,371 housing units); and Florida (one in every 1,415 housing units). Metro areas included Atlantic City, N.J. (one in every 702 housing units); Fayetteville, N.C. (one in every 732 housing units); Clarksville, Tenn. (one in every 853 housing units); Columbia, S.C. (one in every 946 housing units); and Deltona-Daytona Beach, Fla. (one in every 966 housing units).
–Lenders completed foreclosures on 11,078 U.S. properties in April, down 9 percent from the previous month and down 22 percent from a year ago, marking the sixth consecutive annual decline.
