Foreclosure activity was up 56% in October 2022 according to ATTOM Data’s [1] Foreclosure Market Report [2], which found that there were a total of 32,376 flings during the month, up 57% year-over-year or 2% month-over-month.
On a national basis, one in every 4,339 dwellings had a foreclosure filing against it in October. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Illinois (one in every 1,779 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Delaware (one in 2,178); New Jersey (one in 2,305); South Carolina (one in 2,711); and Nevada (one in 2,755).
“Even though foreclosure activity continues its slow, steady increase since the end of the government’s moratorium, we’re still far below normal levels,” said Rick Sharga [3], EVP of Market Intelligence at ATTOM. “October foreclosure activity was about 59% of pre-pandemic numbers, and at its current pace foreclosures probably won’t be back to historically normal levels until sometime around mid-2023.”
Among the top 223 metropolitan areas tracked by ATTOM, the highest foreclosure rates in October 2022 were Fayetteville, North Carolina (one in every 1,135 housing units with a foreclosure filing); St. Louis, Missouri (one in 1,177); Jacksonville, North Carolina (one in 1,203); Cleveland, Ohio (one in 1,624); and Spartanburg, South Carolina (one in 1,729).
Lenders started the foreclosure process on 21,829 properties in October, down less than 1% from last month but up 103% from the same period last year.
Looking specifically at foreclosure completion numbers, lenders repossessed 4,156 homes in October, a number that is now up 18% over last month and 37% from last year.
“Repossessions in October were just under 31% of where they were in October of 2019,” Sharga added. “This suggests that borrowers in foreclosure have been able to sell their homes prior to the foreclosure auction, and that a higher percentage of properties at the auctions are being sold to third-party buyers. A new flood of REO homes seems increasingly unlikely to happen anytime soon.”
Click here [2] to see the report in its entirety.