BYTHE NUMBERS
REALTYTRAC
Focus on Foreclosures MIDYEAR MARKET REPORT SHOWS FORECLOSURE FILINGS DOWN 11 PERCENT FROM A YEAR AGO.
by RealtyTrac
ealtyTrac’s Midyear 2016 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows a total of 533,813 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions—in the first six months of 2016, down 20 per- cent from the previous six months and down 11 percent from the first six months of 2015. The report by the national housing data provider also showed that, counter to the national trend, 19 states posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in the first half of 2016. Those states included Massachusetts (up 46 percent), Connecticut (up 40 percent), Virginia (up 18 percent), Ala- bama (up 11 percent) and New York (up 10 percent). Among the nation’s 20 most-populated metro areas, five post- ed year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity: Boston (up 38 percent); Philadelphia (up 7 percent); New York (up 4 percent); Washington, D.C. (up 3 percent) and Baltimore (up 1 percent). “Although there are some local outliers, the downward fore- closure trend continued in the first half of 2016 in most mar- kets nationwide,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “While U.S. foreclosure activity is still above its pre-recession levels, many of the states hit hardest by the housing crisis have now dropped below pre-recession foreclo- sure activity levels. With some exceptions, states with foreclo- sure activity continuing to run above prerecession levels tend to be those with protracted foreclosure timelines still working through legacy distress from the last housing bust.” NATIONWIDE FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY There were 280,989 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in Q2 2016, down 3 percent from the previous quarter and down 18 percent from a year ago, to the lowest level since Q4 2006. Nationwide foreclosure activity in Q2 2016 was still 21 percent above the prerecession average of 232,082 properties with foreclosure filings per quarter in 2005, 2006 and 2007. But Q2 2016 foreclosure activity was below prerecession averages in 15 states, including Arizona (13 percent below prerecession averages), California (25 percent below), Colorado (72 percent below), Georgia (33 percent below), Michigan (46 percent be-
low), Nevada (18 percent below), Ohio (9 percent below) and Texas (46 percent below). States where Q2 2016 foreclosure activity was still above prerecession averages included Florida (26 percent above pre- recession levels), New Jersey (215 percent above), Illinois (36 percent above), New York (127 percent above), Indiana (2 per- cent above), South Carolina (376 percent above), Massachu- setts (127 percent above) and Washington (29 percent above). There were 94,469 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing in June, down 6 percent from the previous month and down 19 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since July 2006—a nearly 10-year low. STATESWITH TOP FORECLOSURE RATES Nationwide, 0.40 percent of all housing units (one in 249) had a foreclosure filing in the first six months of 2016. States with the highest foreclosure rates were New Jersey (0.98 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing), Mary- land (0.90 percent), Delaware (0.78 percent), Florida (0.70 percent) and Nevada (0.68 percent). Other states with foreclosure rates among the 10 highest in the first six months of 2016 were Illinois (0.61 percent), Ohio (0.54 percent), South Carolina (0.54 percent), Connecticut (0.48 percent) and Indiana (0.47 percent). TOP METRO FORECLOSURE RATES Among metropolitan statistical areas with at least 200,000 people, those with the highest foreclosure rates in the first half of 2016 were Atlantic City, New Jersey (1.85 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing); Trenton, New Jersey (1.31 percent); Baltimore (0.96 percent); Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida (0.91 percent); and Rockford, Illinois (0.91 percent). Other metro areas with foreclosure rates among the 10 highest in the first six months of 2016 were Philadelphia (0.86 percent); Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida (0.85 percent); Jacksonville, Florida (0.80 percent); Columbia, South Carolina (0.78 percent); and Chicago (0.76 percent).
FORECLOSURE STARTS A total of 253,408 U.S. properties started the foreclosure pro- cess in the first half of 2016, down 17 percent from a year ago, the lowest level for any half-year period since RealtyTrac began tracking foreclosure starts in 2006. Counter to the national trend, 13 states and the District of Columbia posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts. Those included Connecticut (up 91 percent), Massa- chusetts (up 35 percent), Arizona (up 12 percent), Ohio (up 10 percent) and Virginia (up 6 percent). FORECLOSURE COMPLETIONS (REO) Lenders foreclosed (REO) on 197,425 U.S. properties in the first half of 2016, down 6 percent from a year ago, but still 48 percent above the prerecession average of 133,391 per half-year. Counter to the national trend, 26 states and the District of Columbia posted a year-over-year increase in REO activity in the first half of 2016. Those included Alabama (up 73 percent), New York (up 65 percent), New Jersey (up 56 percent), Massa- chusetts (up 43 percent) and Virginia (up 37 percent).
INVESTOR PURCHASES AT AUCTION A total of 227,473 foreclosure auctions (which in some states is also the foreclosure start) were scheduled in the first half of 2016, down 23 percent from a year ago. Based on separate sales deed data also collected by Realt- yTrac, 27 percent of all properties sold at foreclosure auction were purchased by third-party investors, the highest share for the first six months of any year since 2000—the earliest national data available. RealtyTrac collects and licenses multisourced public record real estate data—includ- ing tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure and proprietary neighborhood and parcel-level risk—for more than 150 million U.S. properties, providing access to that data for businesses, consumers, policy makers and the media in a variety of venues all designed to increase real estate transparency: RealtyTrac.com is a property search and research portal for foreclosures and other off-market properties; Homefacts.com is a neighborhood research portal providing hyperlocal risks and amenities; Home- Disclosure.com produces detailed property pre-diligence reports; and RealtyTrac Data Solutions delivers real estate data and analysis to businesses through bulk file licenses, APIs, trend reports and customized marketing lists. RealtyTrac data is cited by thousands of media outlets each month, including frequent mentions on CBS Evening News, The Today Show, CNBC, CNN, FOX News, PBS NewsHour and in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA TODAY. > Continued on :: PG 121
116 | think realty magazine september :: october 2016
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