The number of U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing during this year’s first quarter increased four percent from the previous quarter, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.
However, the 189,870 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing during the first quarter of 2018 decreased 19 percent from a year ago and 32 percent below the pre-recession average of 278,912 per quarter, ATTOM’s Q1 2018 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report found.
“Less than half of all active foreclosures are now tied to loans originated during the last housing bubble, one of several data milestones in this report showing that the U.S. housing market has mostly cleared out the backlog of bad loans that triggered the housing and financial crisis nearly a decade ago,” ATTOM Data Solutions Senior Vice President Daren Blomquist said in a release.
“Meanwhile, we are beginning to see early signs that some post-recession loan vintages are defaulting at a slightly elevated rate, a sign that some loosening of lending standards has occurred in recent years,” Blomquist added. “Consequently, foreclosure starts are trending higher compared to a year ago in an increasing number of local markets — some of which are a bit surprising given the overall strength of housing in those markets.”
Metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) posting year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts included Indianapolis (up 148 percent); Minneapolis-St. Paul (up 64 percent); Louisville (up 36 percent); Austin, Texas (up 30 percent); and Oklahoma City (up 23 percent).
Other MSAs posting double-digit percentage increases in foreclosure starts in the first quarter were Milwaukee (up 21 percent); Dallas-Fort Worth (up 20 percent); San Antonio (up 17 percent); Las Vegas (up 15 percent); Birmingham, Ala. (up 13 percent), Charlotte, N.C. (up 12 percent); Pittsburgh (up 12 percent); Raleigh, N.C. (up 10 percent); and Nashville (up 10 percent).