Initial foreclosure actions in August came close to pre-pandemic standards, but completions remained much lower than before COVID-19 arrived in the United States, according to Attom Data Solutions.
Monthly starts rose to 23,952, seasonal dip There were 21,428 in July, almost triple from the previous year’s 8,348. This is near the low end of the range seen just before the pandemic.
Attom’s Executive Vice President of Market Intelligence, Rick Sharga, said:
A recent uptick in early action confirms the following expectations: Foreclosure activity gains new momentum When The start may normalize compared to the pre-pandemic period of 2023.
“August is an inflection point, and it feels like indicators pointing to a return to normal levels for foreclosures will start sooner than expected,” Sharga said in an interview.
Monthly foreclosure initiation rates are still well below long-term averages. During the Great Recession, he noted, they exceeded 200,000.
“We’re not seeing foreclosure activity at 2008 levels, but activity back to 2019 levels, which were still relatively low historically,” Sharga said.
The number of properties repossessed after foreclosures were completed also increased in August, but at 3,938, well below 2019 levels, which were in the high five-digit range. There were a total of 3,068 foreclosure completions in July. A year ago the total was 2,474.
The main reason is that despite rising mortgage rates and a cooling housing market, the extraordinary residential real estate boom of the past two years has left plenty of money behind, leaving distressed borrowers foreclosure alternatives.
“Our data shows that approximately 90% of borrowers who are being foreclosed currently have positive assets, and most have sufficient assets to reduce the fines, fees, and costs of selling and marketing properties. and you can still walk away, in cash,” Shalga said.
The following states had the most real estate holdings foreclosed or repurchased by banks in August: Illinois (493), New York (337), Michigan (326), Pennsylvania (260) and California (189).
One out of 4,072 homes was foreclosed in August, with many more in some states. For example, in Illinois, he receives one foreclosure application for every 1,926 homes. Attom includes various types of default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank foreclosures in this category and takes steps to minimize double counting of these documents. Certain notices contained in the filing may relate to default, sale of trustee or foreclosure, lis pendens (pending litigation), or his REO (real estate ownership).
Among states with 100 or more foreclosures, the biggest increases in August were Oklahoma (80%), Tennessee (74%), Virginia (64%) and Arkansas (53%). , Washington (50%).
“There will likely continue to be volatility in these numbers as we move into the rest of 2022 because it takes different states different times to restart the foreclosure process. There is a burst of activity in , and some states where it happened earlier than others,” Sharga said.
Locally, Cook County, Illinois has the most monthly foreclosure starts with 798, followed by Los Angeles County, California (740). Harris County, Texas (465); Suffolk County, New York (297); Riverside County, California (280).
Attom collects data from over 3,000 counties representing over 99% of the US population.