ATTOM: May Foreclosure Starts Up 36% YOY

ATTOM, Irvine, Calif., reported 10,821 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in May,  down 8 percent from a month ago but up 23 percent from a year ago. Foreclosure starts, which represent the initial notice of default, grew by 36 percent year-over-year.

The company’s May U.S. Foreclosure Market Report said nationwide, one in every 12,700 housing units had a foreclosure filing. States with the highest foreclosure rates in May 2021 were Nevada (one in every 5,535 housing units); Delaware (one in every 5,854); Illinois (one in every 5,903); Florida (one in every 7,207); and New Jersey (one in every 7,679).

“While the increase in foreclosure activity is significant, it’s important to keep these numbers in perspective,” said Rick Sharga, Executive Vice President with RealtyTrac (of which ATTOM is its parent company). “Last year’s numbers were extraordinarily low due to the implementation of the foreclosure moratorium and the CARES Act mortgage forbearance program, so the year-over-year numbers look a lot more dramatic than they are. And May foreclosure activity actually declined compared to April.”

Other report findings:

–Among the 220 metro areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in May were Champaign, Ill. (one in every 2,420 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Peoria, Ill. (one in every 3,030 housing units); Cleveland, Ohio (one in every 3,715 housing units); Bakersfield, Calif. (one in every 3,774 housing units); and Mobile, Ala. (one in every 4,174 housing units).

–Lenders started the foreclosure process on 5,909 U.S. properties in May, down 7 percent from last month and down 36 percent from a year ago.

–Lenders repossessed 1,315 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures in May, down 15 percent from last month and down 54 percent from last year. States with the greatest number of REOs in May included California (154 REOs); Florida (148 REOs); Illinois (144 REOs); Texas (83 REOs); and Ohio (70 REOs).