ATTOM: Completed Foreclosures Down 50% from Year Ago

ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., reported 56,152 foreclosure filings in May, up by 1 percent from April but down by 22 percent from a year ago. Additionally, it said completed foreclosures fell by 50 percent from a year ago.

The company’s May U.S. Foreclosure Market Report said Ma marked the 11th consecutive month with an annual decline in foreclosure filings.

“We are continuing to see a downward trend with overall foreclosure activity, especially in completed foreclosures declining year after year,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. “However, in May 2019 we did see an uptick in the number of states increasing in foreclosure starts going from 17 to 23 states rising annually, and again Florida is bucking the national trend with a continuous annual increase.”

The report said lenders completed foreclosures on 10,634 U.S. properties in May, down 4 percent from the previous month and down 50 percent from a year ago, the 7th consecutive annual decline. Every state but Vermont saw annual declines in completed foreclosures. Those that saw an annual decline of more than 50 percent in REOs included Michigan (down 84 percent); Massachusetts (down 74 percent); Indiana (down 67 percent); Kentucky (down 66 percent); and New Jersey (down 64 percent).

ATTOM said lenders started the foreclosure process on 30,554 U.S. properties in May, slightly up (less than 1 percent) from last month but down 9 percent from a year ago, the fourth consecutive month with an annual decline.

States posting annual decreases in foreclosure starts in May included Texas (down 39 percent); Pennsylvania (down 38 percent); Massachusetts (down 34 percent); Oklahoma (down 29 percent); and New York (down 25 percent).

The report said states with the highest foreclosure rates were New Jersey (one in every 1,117 housing units); Maryland (one in every 1,127 housing units); Florida (one in every 1,238 housing units); Delaware (one in every 1,279 housing units); and Illinois (one in every 1,363 housing units). Among 220 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in May were Atlantic City, N.J. (one in every 680 housing units); Jacksonville, Fla. (one in every 764 housing units); Fayetteville, N.C. (one in every 777 housing units); Columbia, S.C. (one in every 936 housing units); and Rockford, Ill. (one in every 941 housing units).