Foreclosure Starts Fall Fast For July

The foreclosure process began for 36,863 U.S. homes during July 2016, according to a recent report from RealtyTrac. This number of foreclosure starts fell 5 percent from the month of June as well as 19 percent from the previous year in July 2015. The report states that this number is the lowest level seen for foreclosure starts in 11 years, specifically May of 2005.

Additionally, RealtyTrac reported that banks completed the foreclosure process through repossession (REO) for 27,907 homes for the month of July. This number fell down 8 percent from the previous month, June. Likewise, this number decreased significantly, falling 41 percent from the year prior in July 2015. This makes completed foreclosure levels the lowest since January 2015.

The report notes a national average of one in every 1,540 U.S. homes having a foreclosure filing during the month of July. It also reported that the states with the highest July foreclosure rates were Delaware with one in every 570 housing units with a foreclosure filing, New Jersey having one in every 610 homes, Maryland showing one in every 772 homes, Nevada with one in every 805 homes, and likewise Florida with one in every 808 homes.

For the metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, it was found that those with the highest foreclosure rates were specifically Atlantic City, New Jersey showing one in every 232 housing units with a foreclosure filing, Trenton, New Jersey with one in every 515 homes, Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida with one in every 565 homes, Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida with one in every 568 homes, and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida with one in every 698 homes.

Despite the national decrease in foreclosure starts, 13 states were reported to have a year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts for the month of July. These include Delaware which is up 113 percent, Arizona with an increase of 76 percent, Utah with an increase of 63 percent, as well as Connecticut with an increase of 50 percent. Additionally, states included Oregon with an increase of 20 percent, South Carolina with an increase 3 percent, Massachusetts with an increase of 3 percent, and Virginia with an increase of 3 percent.

Following the trend of foreclosure starts increasing year-over-year, it was shown that out of 1,713 counties with foreclosure starts in July, 609 homes, or 36 percent, posted a year-over-year increase. These include Maricopa County, Arizona which is up 43 percent, Broward County, Florida with an increase of 2 percent, Cuyahoga County, Ohio with an increase of 3 percent, Prince George’s County, Maryland with an increase of 33 percent, and Baltimore City, Maryland with an increase of 11 percent.