Maryland Foreclosure Activity Jumps in Q3

Maryland saw a spike in foreclosure activity in the third quarter that gave it the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation behind only Florida, according to RealtyTrac's Third Quarter 2014 Foreclosure Report released earlier this week.

One in every 204 residential housing units in Maryland reported a foreclosure filing (which includes default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions/REOs) for the third quarter. Only Florida, with one foreclosure filing for every 153 housing units, had a higher foreclosure rate in the quarter. It was the ninth consecutive quarter in which Maryland saw a year-over-year increase in foreclosure filings, which declined by 16 percent year-over-year but inched upward by 0.42 percent from the previous quarter, according to RealtyTrac.

Maryland also saw substantial quarter-over-quarter increases in scheduled foreclosure auctions and REO activity for Q3, according to RealtyTrac. The Old Line State saw a 30 percent increase in scheduled foreclosure auctions in the quarter, which was the second largest increase of any state. Michigan had the largest increase at 34 percent. Scheduled foreclosure auctions increased from Q2 to Q3 in 32 states, RealtyTrac reported. Scheduled foreclosure auctions increased in the third quarter by 7 percent from the second quarter, but dropped slightly by 1 percent from Q3 2013.

The rate at which lenders repossessed residential properties (REO activity) jumped by 19 percent in Maryland from Q2 to Q3, which was the second highest quarterly increase of any state, according to RealtyTrac. Maine had the highest increase with 24 percent. REO activity was way down nationwide, falling 12 percent from Q2 to Q3 and increasing in only seven states. REO activity declined by 38 percent from the same period in 2013.