Study shows foreclosure activity at lowest level since 2005

Foreclosure filings are down by 78% from a peak in 2010, hitting its lowest level since 2005.

According to a new study released by ATTOM Data Solutions,  foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 624,753 US properties in 2018, down 8% from 2017 and down 78% from a peak of nearly 2.9 million in 2010.

“Plummeting foreclosure completions combined with consistently falling foreclosure timelines in 2018 provide evidence that most of the distress from the last housing crisis has now been cleaned up,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM. “But there was also some evidence of distress gradually returning to the housing market in 2018, with foreclosure starts increasing from the previous year in more than one-third of all state and local housing markets.”

“Some of that distress was driven by natural disasters, most notably in Houston, where foreclosure starts increased 61%. But natural disasters do not explain the increase in markets such as Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee and Austin — all of which posted double-digit percentage increases in foreclosure starts in 2018.”

Data from the study showed that states with the biggest decline in foreclosure from last year included Rhode Island (down 39%), Hawaii (down 26%), North Carolina (down 24%), Washington (down 24%), and Connecticut (down 23%).

Bucking the national trend, however, are 18 states that posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts in 2018, including Minnesota (up 29%); Texas (up 15%); Michigan (up 15%); Florida (up 13%); Louisiana (up 5%); and Delaware (up 2%).