ATTOM: March Foreclosure Report Reflects Calm Before the Storm

ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., released its quarterly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which showed 156,253 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing during the first quarter, up 42 percent from the previous quarter but down 3 percent from a year ago.

The report also showed 46,800 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in March, down 3 percent from the previous month and down 20 percent from a year ago, marking the third consecutive month with a year-over-year decrease in U.S. foreclosure activity.

“As foreclosure activity across the country continued to decline in March, contributing to a run of quarterly declines, the number of filings remains just one-sixth of what it was following the Great Recession a decade ago,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions.

Teta cautioned, however, that despite the strong report, “it comes with a huge caveat because it captures the pivotal month when millions of Americans started losing their jobs because of the economic fallout connected to the coronavirus pandemic. Banks are temporarily holding off on foreclosures and we expect this will bring foreclosures even lower for at least the next few quarters. However, with unemployment and other distress factors hitting the economy now, the numbers could rise significantly later this year and into next, depending on how many people can’t keep up with their payments.”

Key report metrics:

–Foreclosure activity in the first quarter was below pre-recession averages for 134 of 220 markets (61 percent) with a population greater than 200,000, including Denver (89 percent below); Detroit (80 percent); Las Vegas (80 percent); Dallas-Fort Worth (79 percent); and Indianapolis (78 percent).

–Foreclosure activity levels were still above pre-recession averages in 86 of 220 markets analyzed (39 percent), including Baltimore (114 percent above); Honolulu (69 percent); Allentown, Pa. (53 percent); Buffalo (33 percent); and Baton Rouge, La. (18 percent).

–Lenders started the foreclosure process on 81,251 properties the first quarter, up 1 percent from the previous quarter but down 11 percent from a year ago — the 19th consecutive quarter with a year-over-year decrease in foreclosure starts.

–Lenders repossessed 29,923 properties through foreclosure in the first quarter, down 28 percent from the previous quarter and down 16 percent from a year ago — the 16th consecutive quarter with a year-over-year decrease in U.S. REOs.

–Nationwide one in every 873 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing in the first quarter. States with the highest foreclosure rates were New Jersey (one in 406 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Delaware (one in 433); Illinois (one in 448); Maryland (one in 583); and Florida (one in 628).

–Highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter were Trenton, N.J. (one in every 286 housing units); Atlantic City, N.J. (one in 293); Rockfield, Ill. (one in 296); Lake Havasu City, Ariz. (one in 331); and Peoria, Ill. (one in 351).

–Properties foreclosed in the first quarter had been in the foreclosure process an average of 673 days, down 19 percent from an average 834 days for properties foreclosed in the fourth quarter and down 19 percent from an average of 835 days for properties foreclosed a year ago.

–States with the longest average foreclosure timelines for properties foreclosed in first quarter were Hawaii (1,673 days), Indiana (1,361 days), Louisiana (1,243 days), New York (1,226 days), and Florida (1,022 days). Shortest average times were in Arkansas (157 days), Wyoming (172 days), New Hampshire (184 days), Virginia (190 days), and Minnesota (202 days).

–Nationwide in March one in every 2,914 properties had a foreclosure filing.

–States with the highest foreclosure rates in March were Delaware (one in every 1,238 housing units); New Jersey (one in every 1,475); Illinois (one in every 1,558); Connecticut (one in every 1,931); and Florida (one in every 2,015).

–27,812 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in March, up 3 percent from the previous month but down 14 percent from a year ago. March marked the 14th consecutive month with a year-over-year decrease in foreclosure starts.

–Lenders completed the foreclosure process on 9,091 U.S. properties in March, down 13 percent from the previous month and down 25 percent from a year ago.