July foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions — were down 4% from June, but increased 143% from a year ago, according to a new report.
According to ATTOM’s latest U.S. foreclosure market report, there were a total of 30,358 properties with foreclosure filings in July. Nationwide, one in every 4,628 houses had a foreclosure filing last month.
“While it’s encouraging to see both foreclosure starts and completions drop off a bit in July, it’s also worth noting that there may be some seasonality impacting the numbers,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM. “In eight of the last 10 years, (third-quarter) foreclosure activity has been lower than the previous quarter, so we might just be seeing a return to a more normal seasonal pattern of delinquencies and defaults.”
According to the digital real estate curator, Delaware (one in every 2,127 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Illinois (one in every 2,334 housing units); New Jersey (one in every 2,564 housing units); Nevada (one in every 2,609 housing units); and South Carolina (one in every 2,976 housing units) had the highest foreclosure rates.
Among the 223 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in July were Elkhart, Ind. (one in every 1,592 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Davenport, Iowa (one in every 1,626 housing units); Fayetteville, N.C. (one in every 1,673 housing units); Cleveland (one in every 1,757 housing units); and Atlantic City, N.J. (one in every 1,886 housing units).
In metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million, those with the worst foreclosure rates in July 2022 in addition to Cleveland, were: Chicago (one in every 2,082 housing units); Las Vegas (one in every 2,190 housing units); Riverside, Calif. (one in every 2,431 housing units); and Philadelphia (one in every 2,519 housing units).
According to ATTOM’s report, foreclosure starts increased monthly in 21 states. Lenders also started the foreclosure process on 21,428 U.S. properties in July, down 4% from last month but up 226% from a year ago.
States that had at least 100 foreclosure starts in July and saw a monthly increase in foreclosure starts included: Michigan (up 42%); Massachusetts (up 39%); Iowa (up 26%); Wisconsin (up 25%); and Indiana (up 22%).
“It appears that a few states are still catching up on processing foreclosures on loans that were seriously delinquent prior to the pandemic, which accounts for the year-over-year spike in foreclosure starts,” Sharga said, referring to the end of pandemic-era forbearance plans. “But early-stage delinquencies continue to be lower than normal, so once these older loans have re-entered the foreclosure process, it will be interesting to see if foreclosure starts fall off significantly.”
Major metropolitan areas with a population greater than 200,000 that had the greatest number of foreclosures starts in July included: New York City (1,380 foreclosure starts); Chicago (1,247 foreclosure starts); Los Angeles (678 foreclosure starts); Miami (666 foreclosure starts); and Philadelphia (652 foreclosure starts).
Foreclosure completion numbers also decreased 5% from June, as lenders repossessed 3,068 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in July. However, completion numbers were up 27% from last year.
According to ATTOM, states that saw a monthly increase in REOs in July included: Maryland (up 147%); Hawaii (up 58%); North Dakota (up 38%); Massachusetts (up 38%); and Michigan (up 27%).
States that saw the greatest number of REOs in July 2022 included: Illinois (359 REOs); Pennsylvania (185 REOs); Ohio (184 REOs); Michigan (182 REOs); and New York (167 REOs).
Also, major metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 1 million that saw the greatest number of REOs in July included: Chicago, (270 REOs); New York City (90); Philadelphia, (89); Detroit (82); and Birmingham, Ala., (66).
ATTOM collects data from more than 3,000 counties that account for more than 99% of the country’s population to compile the foreclosure monthly and quarterly reports. Some filings entered into the data warehouse during the quarter may have been recorded in the previous quarter.
