Foreclosures ease from torrent to downpour

September 9, 9:39 PMReal Estate News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Real Estate News Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Foreclosures backed off their record pace, but not by much as default notices, auctions and bank repossessions continued to pour through the pipeline in August.

August's foreclosure activity actually decreased from July, but only by 1 percent, after record numbers of foreclosures were set in three of the previous five months.

The 358,471 foreclosures in August were also up 18 percent from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac.

"The August report demonstrates that there is still an ample supply of properties filling the foreclosure pipeline even while the outflow of bank-owned REO properties onto the resale market is being more carefully regulated," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

Nevada lead the way, with one in every 62 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in August, despite an 8 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month.

Florida followed with the second highest rate, with one in every 140 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. California was nearly neck-and-neck for second with one in every 144 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

Arizona, Michigan, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Georgia and Illinois also recorded high rates of foreclosures.

Foreclosurelistings.com tried, with little success, to put a positive spin on the foreclosure numbers.

As foreclosure filings have eased, prices are increasing in some locations, indicating growing demand, albeit slowly growing demand.

Foreclosurelistings.com said prices are up, if only a tad, less than 1 percent in California and Florida. Michigan's home prices were up by 1.4 percent, Texas by 4.8 percent, according to Foreclosurelistings.com.