ATTOM Data says 44% of metros saw increases
July snapped the 36-month run of decreases in year-over-year foreclosure starts according to new figures from ATTOM Data.
The month saw 30,187 homes starting the foreclosure process, up 1% from June and up less than 1% from July 2017.
Twenty-one states posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts in July, including Florida (35%); California (3%); Texas (7%); Illinois (7%); and Ohio (2%).
There were year-over-year increases in 96 (44%) of the 219 metro areas analyzed including Los Angeles (20%); Houston (76%); Philadelphia (10%); Miami (29%); and San Francisco (10%).
"The increase in foreclosure starts is not just a one-month anomaly in many local markets given that July represented the third consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in 33 metro areas, including Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Detroit, San Diego and Austin," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president with ATTOM Data Solutions.
He added that risk has returned to the housing market over the past few years due to easing of lending standards.
“Most susceptible to rising foreclosure starts are affordability-challenged markets where homebuyers are more financially stretched and markets with some type of trigger event such as a natural disaster or large-scale layoffs."
ATTOM Data Solutions’ U.S. Foreclosure Market Report also reveals that nationwide, one in every 2,086 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing in July. New Jersey had the highest concentration at 1 in every 723 units.
