Filings decrease month over month after 21 consecutive months of increases
Foreclosure filings in the United States have started to stabilize in February after 21 straight months of increases, according to ATTOM's latest market report.
The report revealed 30,528 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions), down 3% from a month ago and up 18% from a year ago.
ATTOM CEO Rob Barber noted that the numbers don't yet show a clear trend toward fewer foreclosures, partly because February is a short month.
"But with historically high levels of home equity flowing from a decade of rising values, we may be seeing a growing number of delinquent mortgage payers with at least the option to sell before facing foreclosure," he said.
Foreclosure completion numbers declined 2% from January but were 45% higher than last year. Lenders repossessed 3,831 properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in February.
States with the greatest annual increase in completed foreclosures (at least 100 or more REOs) included New York (up 268%); Georgia (up 237%); California (up 132%); Texas (up 87%); and Virginia (up 73%).
Meanwhile, the major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with a population greater than 200,000 that saw the greatest number of completed foreclosures in February were Chicago, Ill. (193 REOs); New York, N.Y. (170 REOs); Detroit, Mich. (112 REOs); Philadelphia, Pa. (104 REOs); and St. Louis, Mo. (97 REOs).
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