Realtytrac reports FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY REMAINS NEAR RECORD LEVEL IN AUGUST
IRVINE, Calif. — September 10, 2009 — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its August 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 358,471 U.S. properties during the month, a decrease of less than 1 percent from the previous month but still an increase of nearly 18 percent from August 2008. The report also shows one in every 357 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in August.
“The August report demonstrates that there is still an ample supply of properties filling the foreclosure pipeline even while the outflow of bank-owned REO properties onto the resale market is being more carefully regulated,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “After hitting a high for the year in July, REOs dropped 13 percent in August, but we also saw a record high number of properties either entering default or being scheduled for a public foreclosure auction for the first time.”
Industry cheerleaders are focusing on the “13 percent” drop in REOs (where the foreclosure process has been completed and the property is now owned by the bank) as a sign that things are improving. In reality, this is not a sign of fundamental improvement, but the result of banks choosing not to complete the forelcosure process.
… California documented the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 144 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.
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Six states account for more than 60 percent of national total
Six states accounted for 62 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure activity in August despite decreasing REOs in all six states. California REOs dropped 32 percent from the previous month, but the state continued to post the highest overall total of any state, with 92,326 properties receiving a foreclosure filing in August. California’s total was down 15 percent from the previous month and was also down 9 percent from August 2008 — the first year-over-year decrease in California foreclosure activity in RealtyTrac’s monthly reports.
I talking with different loan servicers and asset managers, I have heard that banks are treating California differently. I had an asset manager tell me the other day that their business in Nevada and Arizona had picked up dramatically, but that California was still dead. For bank-reposessions to drop 32% month-over-month, there is clearly massive manipulation going on behind the scenes.
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Six California metro areas documented foreclosure rates among the top 10 in August. Stockton posted the nation’s second highest metro foreclosure rate — one in every 74 housing units received a foreclosure filing — followed by Merced at No. 3 (one in 78), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at No. 4 (one in 80), Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 5 (one in 82), Modesto at No. 6 (one in 84), and Bakersfield at No. 10 (one in 94).
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