West Coast Foreclosure Starts Plunge in September: ForeclosureRadar

Foreclosure starts fell dramatically in all five West Coast states tracked by Foreclosure Radar, confirming suspicions that a foreclosure wave may not arrive.

[IMAGE]

""It was recently reported that the nation's five largest mortgage servicers have implemented all of the 320 servicing standards required under the national mortgage settlement,"" stated Sean O'Toole, founder and CEO of ""ForeclosureRadar"":http://www.foreclosureradar.com. ""The continued decline in Foreclosure Starts clearly shows that even though servicers are now apparently in compliance and clear to move forward with foreclosures, they are still in no rush to foreclose on the majority of delinquent borrowers.""

In September, foreclosure starts in Nevada fell 40.1 percent from the prior month and in Oregon, foreclosure starts fell 40 percent during the same period, according to a ForeclosureRadar report released Wednesday.

Arizona (-37.1 percent), Washington (-31.2 percent), and California (-20.7 percent) also saw dramatic declines over a one-month period.

While California saw the smallest decrease, the state had the highest number of foreclosure starts, which totaled 14,090 in September compared to 1,450 in Nevada and only 51 in Oregon.

Year-over-year, the decline in foreclosure starts was even greater. Oregon led with a 96 percent drop, followed by Nevada (-73.8 percent), and Washington (-70.8 percent), Arizona (-50.8 percent), and California (-48.1 percent).

""There has been speculation that the banks would rush to clear inventory before the CA Homeowner Bill of Rights takes affect in January 2013, causing an increase in the number of foreclosures. Clearly this is not the case as we continue to see the number of Foreclosure Starts decline,"" the foreclosure data provider noted in its report.

Month-over-month, September foreclosure sales were also down across all five states: Arizona (-24.3 percent), California (-17.9 percent), Nevada (-19.5 percent), Oregon (-0.3 percent), and Washington (-33.5 percent).