ATTOM recently released its Mid-year 2021 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, showing that there were 65,082 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings this year, down 68% from the same period last year and down 78% from two years ago.
Only 5 out of the 220 metro areas analyzed in the report had an increase of foreclosure filings. These metros are Tyler, Texas (up 88%); Brownsville, Texas (up 21%); Springfield, Illinois (up 19%); Sioux Falls, South Dakota (up 9%); and Lake Charles, Louisiana (up 5%).
Rick Sharga, executive vice president of ATTOM company, RealtyTrack, said, “The government's foreclosure moratorium and mortgage forbearance program have created an unprecedented situation - historically high numbers of seriously delinquent loans and historically low levels of foreclosure activity.”
States with the greatest decline in foreclosure filings compared to last year were Maryland (down 95%); Oklahoma (down 87%); Pennsylvania (down 81%); Idaho (down 78%); and New Mexico (down 76%).
Although the number of U.S. properties with foreclosure filings is down 63% from the first half of last year, it’s still up 14% from the last half of 2020. States with highest foreclosure filings in 2021 were Delaware (0.10% of housing units with a foreclosure filing); Illinois (0.09%); Florida (0.08%); Ohio (0.08%); and Indiana (0.08%).
“With the moratorium scheduled to end on July 31, and half of the remaining borrowers in forbearance scheduled to exit that program over the next six months, we should start to get a more accurate read on the level of financial distress the pandemic has caused for homeowners across the country,” Sharga added.
Lenders foreclosed on a total of 9,730 U.S. properties in the first six months of 2021, down 74% from a year ago. This marks the lowest six-month total since ATTOM began tracking in 2005.
Sharga also noted, "Fewer bank repossessions may be a trend we continue to see even after the government's programs protecting borrowers from foreclosure expire. Rising home prices have provided most homeowners with enough equity to sell their homes at a profit, rather than lose them to a foreclosure or repossession.”
Click here for more information on ATTOM’s Mid-year 2021 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.
