Foreclosures Decrease as Market Recovers

DataQuick revealed its monthly Property Intelligence Report (PIR), showing that foreclosures have decreased in 31 of the 42 reporting markets over the last month, quarter, and year. Along with a general decrease in foreclosures across the measured markets, DataQuick reports that January home price growth has leveled off in nearly all markets, even turning negative in others.

According to the report, 12 counties have experienced more than a 50 percent drop in foreclosures, including the markets of Los Angeles, Denver, and Washington, D.C.

"While indicators such as home price growth have fluctuated somewhat with each report, decreased foreclosure numbers have become a constant occurrence as the market slowly recovers," said DataQuick’s VP of analytics, Gordon Crawford, Ph.D. "However, though most markets are seeing month-to-month decline in foreclosures, those counties where foreclosure activity is actually growing are experiencing rapid foreclosure increases. For example, the counties of Long Island, New York and Portland, Oregon have seen a roughly 100 percent increase in foreclosure activity over the past year."

The report noted that sales increased in 11 of the 42 counties over the last month, while sales increased in only 2 of the 42 reported counties over the last quarter.

The average yearly home price growth across all 42 reporting markets dropped from 9.9 percent in December to 8.9 percent last month.