Foreclosure filings in July were down 4 percent from June, according ATTOM’s July foreclosure market report. However, they were up 143 percent year-over-year.
“While it’s encouraging to see both foreclosure starts and completions drop off a bit in July, it’s also worth noting that there may be some seasonality impacting the numbers,” ATTOM Executive Vice President of Market Intelligence Rick Sharga said in a release. “In eight of the last 10 years, Q3 foreclosure activity has been lower than the previous quarter, so we might just be seeing a return to a more normal seasonal pattern of delinquencies and defaults.”
In July, states with the highest foreclosure rates were Delaware (one in every 2,127 housing units with a foreclosure filing), Illinois (one in every 2,334 housing units), New Jersey (one in every 2,564 housing units), Nevada (one in every 2,609 housing units) and South Carolina (one in every 2,976 housing units).
Among the metro areas with a population of at least 200,000 that ATTOM analyzed, those with the highest foreclosure rates in July were Elkhart, Ind., (one in every 1,592 housing), Davenport, Iowa, (one in every 1,626 housing units), Fayetteville, N.C., (one in every 1,673 housing units), Cleveland (one in every 1,757 housing units) and Atlantic City, N.J. (one in every 1,886 housing units).
Those metro areas with a population greater than 1 million, with the worst foreclosure rates in July, including Cleveland, were: Chicago (one in every 2,082 housing units), Las Vegas (one in every 2,190 housing units); Riverside, Calif., (one in every 2,431 housing units), and Philadelphia (one in every 2,519 housing units).
Foreclosure starts in July were down 4 percent from June but up 226 percent from a year ago. States that had at least 100 foreclosure starts in July that saw a monthly increase were Michigan (up 42 percent), Massachusetts (up 39 percent), Iowa (up 26 percent), Wisconsin (up 25 percent) and Indiana (up 22 percent).
“It appears that a few states are still catching up on processing foreclosures on loans that were seriously delinquent prior to the pandemic, which accounts for the year-over-year spike in foreclosure starts,” Sharga said. “But early-stage delinquencies continue to be lower than normal, so once these older loans have re-entered the foreclosure process, it will be interesting to see if foreclosure starts fall off significantly.”
The major metro areas with a population greater than 200,000 that had the greatest number of foreclosures starts in July were New York (1,380 foreclosure starts), Chicago (1,247), Los Angeles (678); Miami (666) and Philadelphia (652).
Completed foreclosures (REOs) in July were down 5 percent from last month but up 27 percent from last year.
Counter to the national trend, states that saw a monthly increase in REOs in July included Maryland (up 147 percent), Hawaii (up 58 percent), North Dakota (up 38 percent), Massachusetts (up 38 percent) and Michigan (up 27 percent).
States that saw the greatest number of REOs in July were Illinois (359), Pennsylvania (185 REOs), Ohio (184), Michigan (182) and New York (167).
Major metro with a population greater than 1 million that saw the greatest number of REOs in July included Chicago (270 REOs), New York (90); Philadelphia (89); Detroit (82); and Birmingham, Ala. (66).