U.S. foreclosure activity up 2% in July

RealtyTrac: U.S. foreclosure activity up 2% in July

 

IRVINE, Calif. – Aug. 14, 2014 – RealtyTrac released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for July 2014. It finds that foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – were reported on 109,434 U.S. properties in July. That's an increase of 2 percent from the previous month but down 16 percent from one year earlier. One in every 1,203 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing in July.

"July was the 46th consecutive month where U.S. foreclosure activity was down on a year-over-year basis," says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "After nearly four years of falling foreclosures, we are starting to see evidence that foreclosure numbers are normalizing at the national level. The 16 percent decrease in July was exactly half the annual decrease we saw a year ago in July 2013, when U.S. foreclosure activity was down 32 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Florida

Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Illinois and Ohio had the top U.S. foreclosure rates. While Florida foreclosure activity decreased 30 percent year-over-year in July – the 12th consecutive month with an annual decrease – the state still had the nation's highest foreclosure rate for the 10th consecutive month.

One in every 469 Florida housing units had a foreclosure filing in July – more than two and a half times the national average.

Looking at cities, Florida had eight spots on the "top 10" for highest foreclosure rates among metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 200,000 or more. Ocala ranked No. 1, where one in every 296 housing units with a foreclosure filing, or more than four times the national average.

Other Florida cities in the top 10 include Orlando-Kissimmee at No. 2 (one in every 357 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville at No. 3 (one every 404 housing units); Lakeland at No. 4 (one in every 407 housing units); Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach at No. 5 (one in every 421 housing units); Port St. Lucie at No. 6 (one in every 434 housing units); Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater at No. 7 (one in every 448 housing units); and Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 8 (one in every 478 housing units).

The two "top 10" cities outside Florida include Columbia, S.C., at No. 9 (one in every 484 housing units); and Akron, Ohio, at No. 10 (one in every 525 housing units).

Other report findings

• 49,624 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in July, a 5 percent increase from the previous month, but still down 18 percent from a year ago.

• Despite the annual decrease nationally, foreclosure starts increased from a year ago in 14 states, including Nevada (up 128 percent), Texas (up 29 percent), New York (up 17 percent), Massachusetts (up 12 percent) and Michigan (up 6 percent).

• 51,595 U.S. properties were scheduled for foreclosure auction in July, up 10 percent from the previous month but down 3 percent from a year ago.

• Lender repossessed 25,937 U.S. properties via foreclosure (REO) in July, down 4 percent from the previous month and down 30 percent from a year ago. It's the lowest level since April 2007.

RealtyTrac posts an interactive map on its website that shows Florida foreclosures by county.

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