ATTOM Data Solutions released its October 2016 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 105,481 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — in October, up 27 percent from a nearly 11-year low in September but still down 8 percent from a year ago.
October marked the 13th consecutive month where foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis, but the month-over-month increase in October was the biggest monthly increase since August 2007.
Counter to the national trend, 28 states and the District of Columbia posted year-over-year increases in overall foreclosure activity in October, including New York (up 10 percent), Pennsylvania (up 20 percent), Ohio (up 4 percent), Georgia (up 22 percent), Virginia (up 15 percent), Massachusetts (up 11 percent), Arizona (up 17 percent), Indiana (up 3 percent), Wisconsin (up 3 percent) and Colorado (up 64 percent).
“While some states are still slogging through the remnants of the last housing crisis, the foreclosure activity increases in states such as Arizona, Colorado and Georgia are more heavily tied to loans originated since 2009 — after most of the risky lending fueling the last housing boom had stopped,” ATTOM Data Solutions Senior Vice President Daren Blomquist said in a press release. “The increase in October isn’t enough evidence to indicate a new foreclosure crisis emerging in these states, but it certainly demonstrates that this housing recovery is not completely devoid of risk.
“The loans used in this housing recovery that appear to be most susceptible to foreclosure are those such as FHA and VA with low downpayments,” Blomquist added. “Our data shows FHA and VA loans combined represent 49 percent of all active foreclosure inventory for loans originated in the seven years ending in 2015. By comparison, FHA and VA loans only represent 12 percent of all active foreclosure inventory among loans originated in the previous seven-year period, from 2002 to 2008.”
The report showed a national foreclosure rate of one in every 1,258 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing in September.
States with the highest foreclosure rates in September were Delaware (one in every 355 housing units with a foreclosure filing); New Jersey (one in every 564 housing units); Maryland (one in every 679 housing units); Illinois (one in every 704 housing units); and South Carolina (one in every 801 housing units).
“We would expect to see an increase in Florida foreclosure activity in the coming months given the October ruling by the state Supreme Court there that allows lenders to re-file a foreclosure action against a homeowner in default even if a previous foreclosure case against that homeowner was dismissed and that original foreclosure case was filed more than five years ago, outside the state’s statute of limitations for foreclosure,” Blomquist said.