Increase in Foreclosure Activity Ahead of MBA Delinquency Survey
Ahead of today’s release of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s quarterly National Delinquency Survey, ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., reported 55,197 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in October, up 13 percent from September but down 17 percent from a year ago.
The company’s monthly Foreclosure Market Report said lenders repossessed 13,484 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures in October, up 14 percent from last month, hitting the highest point in total number of completed foreclosures in 2019.
The Mortgage Bankers Association releases its Third Quarter National Delinquency Survey later this morning. The NDS, conducted since 1953, covers 38 million loans on one- to four- unit residential properties. Loans surveyed are reported by more than 100 lenders, including mortgage bank, commercial banks and thrifts. MBA NewsLink will provide coverage; MBA Vice President of Economic Analysis Marina Walsh will provide commentary.
“While foreclosure activity across the United States rose in October, in looking at historical trends, October numbers tend to increase as lenders may be pushing filings through the pipeline before the holiday season,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions. “The latest number is still below where it was a year ago and less than 15 percent of what it was during the depths of the Great Recession.”
ATTOM said states that saw the greatest number in REOs in October included Florida (1,493); Texas (912); Michigan (890); California (824); and Illinois (805). Major metropolitan statistical areas that saw the greatest number of REOs included Detroit (705); New York (684); Chicago (679); Philadelphia (470); and Atlanta (430).
The report said nationwide, one in every 2,453 housing units had a foreclosure filing in October. States with the highest foreclosure rates were New Jersey (one in every 1,316); Illinois (one in every 1,336); Maryland (one in every 1,484); South Carolina (one in every 1,534); and Florida (one in every 1,571). Among 220 metros, those with the highest foreclosure rates in October were Peoria, Ill. (one in every 832); Rockford, Ill. (one in every 889); Atlantic City, N.J. (one in every 933); Fayetteville, N.C. (one in every 962); and Columbia, SC (one in every 1,028).
ATTOM said lenders started the foreclosure process on 28,667 U.S. properties in October, up 17 percent from last month but down 1 percent from a year ago, the first double-digit month-over-month increase since February 2018. States that saw a double digit increases from last month included Arizona (up 52 percent); Ohio (up 52 percent); Florida (up 48 percent); New Jersey (up 47 percent); and California (up 36 percent).
Earlier this week, CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said just 3.7% of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency in August, down by 0.2 percent from a year ago to its lowest rate since 1999.
The company’s monthly Loan Performance Insights Report noted, whoever, that five states saw increases in delinquencies in August. The report said the foreclosure inventory rate fell to 0.4 percent in August, tying the prior nine months as the lowest for any month since at least January 1999.
