REOs Fall Year-Over-Year for 21st Straight Month

The number of residential properties repossessed by lenders by way of foreclosure in August declined on a year-over-year basis for the 21st consecutive month, according to RealtyTrac's monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for August 2014 released September 11.

The number of REO properties, which represent the final stage of the foreclosure process, was reported to be 26,343 for August, according to RealtyTrac. This was a slight increase of 2 percent from July but a significant drop of 33 percent from August 2013.

RealtyTrac reported that REO activity went down year-over-year in all but seven states: Georgia (increase of 146 percent), Hawaii (42 percent), Oregon (20 percent), Kentucky (13 percent), Pennsylvania (12 percent), Connecticut (10 percent), and Virginia (.3 percent, from 520 to 522).

According to RealtyTrac, the state with the most REOs in August overall was Florida, with 5,277, which was a 37 percent drop year-over-year for the Sunshine State. Georgia had the second most total REOs in August with 4,204, and California was third with 2,152. North Dakota had the lowest number of REOs for August with 0, according to RealtyTrac. The Peace Garden State had only two REOs in July, and had 10 in August 2013. After North Dakota, the District of Columbia had the second lowest number of REOs in August 2014 with two.

REO activity increased month-over-month in 21 states; in all others, it either declined or stayed the same from July to August. Georgia had the largest month-over-month increase with 196 percent (1,421 up to 4,204), while Maryland had the largest decline from July to August with 81 percent (1,103 down to 207).