Foreclosure Filings at Three Year Low

RealtyTrac data shows ‘robo signing’ fallout in some states

By Inman News, Thursday, April 14, 2011

Continued fallout from the “robo signing” controversy saw loan servicers throttle back foreclosure filings during the first quarter to their lowest level in three years, according to public records gathered by data aggregator RealtyTrac.

RealtyTrac counted 681,153 foreclosure-related filings against U.S. properties during the first three months of the year, down 15 percent from fourth-quarter 2010 and down 27 percent from first-quarter 2010.

Housing markets face a dual threat: looming shadow inventory and the probability that foreclosure filings will pick up as loan servicers put the robo-signing controversy behind them, said RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio in a statement.

Federal regulators on Wednesday announced a partial settlement with the nation’s largest loan servicers that requires them to hire outside consultants to review foreclosures initiated in 2009 and 2010 and compensate homeowners who should not have been foreclosed on.

The biggest drop in first-quarter foreclosure-related filings was among homes hit with default notices for the first time. Loan servicers filed default notices on 197,112 homes during the first quarter, down 17 percent from the fourth quarter and 35 percent from a year ago.

Auction notices were down 19 percent from the fourth quarter and down 27 percent from a year ago, to 268,995. Bank repossessions, on the other hand, fell just 6 percent from the fourth quarter, to 215,046 — a 17 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2010.

Slowdowns were magnified in judicial foreclosure states like Florida, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, where courts oversee the foreclosure process and the robo-signing controversy has had the greatest impact. Compared to a year ago, foreclosure-related filings were down 62 percent in Florida and Massachusetts, and 44 percent in New Jersey.

Among the 20 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, 19 were in nonjudicial foreclosure states. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. was the lone exception.

Top 50 metro foreclosure rates

Rank Market Properties with filings Filings per household Percent change from year ago
U.S. Total 681,153 191 -26.93
1 Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. 26,275           31 -7.74
2 Modesto, Calif. 3,809           46 -25.87
3 Stockton, Calif. 4,821           47 -23.80
4 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. 36,422          48 -19.42
5 Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif. 3,111           48 -14.11
6 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. 29,859           49 -27.17
7 Merced, Calif. 1,605           52 -30.43
8 Reno-Sparks, Nev. 3,369           54 -10.78
9 Bakersfield, Calif. 4,729           58 -25.45
10 Fresno, Calif. 4,986           62 -7.51
11 Sacramento-Arden Arcade-Roseville, Calif. 13,606           63 -21.98
12 Visalia-Porterville, Calif. 2,091           67 -14.69
13 Boise City-Nampa, Idaho 3,458           70 -10.58
14 Prescott, Ariz. 1,456           73 -9.79
15 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. 27,250           79 -6.48
16 Salt Lake City, Utah 4,907           82 -4.81
17 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. 3,340           82 -15.06
18 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. 4,248           86 -58.74
19 Salinas, Calif. 1,616           87 -31.93
20 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. 21,192           90 -25.31
21 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif. 1,263           93 7.58
22 Tucson, Ariz. 4,606           93 0.15
23 Santa Rosa-Petaluma, Calif. 2,112           94 -4.69
24 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif. 11,784           97 -28.88
25 Greeley, Colo. 971           97 -26.83
26 Provo-Orem, Utah 1,504           98 -21.67
27 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. 45,083           98 -23.97
28 Flint, Mich. 1,995           99 -6.21
29 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, Calif. 1,473         103 -7.12
30 Racine, Wis. 785         104 12.79
31 Chico, Calif. 929         104 -8.29
32 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.-Mo. 1,809         105 -23.77
33 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. 16,240         105 -16.46
34 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif. 977         106 -8.61
35 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. 5,448         117 -21.78
36 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. 30,172         125 -28.24
37 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla. 18,867         129 -63.87
38 Lansing-East Lansing, Mich. 1,472         134 9.20
39 Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich. 2,335         137 -6.90
40 Savannah, Ga. 1,083         139 -2.87
41 Ogden-Clearfield, Utah 1,280         142 -11.11
42 Ocala, Fla. 1,148         142 -49.25
43 Denver-Aurora, Colo. 7,382         144 -19.21
44 Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla. 6,130         148 -70.42
45 Jacksonville, Fla. 3,900         154 -50.09
46 Port St. Lucie, Fla. 1,356         154 -67.80
47 Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, Fla. 2,547         155 -60.02
48 Rockford, Ill. 930         156 -41.25
49 Colorado Springs, Colo. 1,652         157 -17.85
50 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. 8,438         158 -56.24

 

Source: RealtyTrac

Nevada posted the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate: there was a foreclosure filing for one in every 35 housing units in that state. That compares to the U.S. average of one filing for every 191 housing units.

Arizona had the next highest state foreclosure rate (1 in 60 housing units), followed by California (1 in 80 units), Utah (1 in 98 units), Georgia (1 in 108), Michigan (1 in 121), Florida (1 in 152), Colorado (1 in 157) and Illinois (1 in 160).

In terms of raw numbers, California led all states with 168,543 properties receiving some type of foreclosure-related filing, followed by Florida (58,322), Arizona (46,047), Georgia (37,509), Michigan (37,506), Texas (34,646), Illinois (33,092), Nevada (32,066), Ohio (24,697) and Colorado (13,847).