Key Highlights
- Foreclosure filings increased +20% in October compared to September’s filings, according to ATTOM Data Solutions and its RealtyTrac company
- Despite this +20% monthly increase, foreclosure filings down -79% compared with same time last year
ATTOM Data Solutions and its RealtyTrac foreclosure listings portal indicated in its latest October 2020 US Foreclosure Market Report that foreclosure filings (scheduled auctions, bank repossessions or default notices) increased +20% in October compared to last year at the same time.
Rick Sharga, executive vice president of RealtyTrac, said, “It’s a little surprising to see foreclosure activity increasing in spite of the various foreclosure moratoria that are (still) in place. It’s likely that many of these (11,673) properties were already in the early stages of default prior to the pandemic, or are vacant and abandoned, which makes them candidates for expedited foreclosure actions.”
States with the highest foreclosure rates included South Carolina, Nebraska, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida.
Metros with populations of more than 1M people that have the highest foreclosure rates included Birmingham AL, Cleveland OH, Jacksonville FL, New Orleans LA and Miami FL. Metros with smaller populations having the highest foreclosure rates in October 2020 included Peoria IL, Champaign IL, Beaumont TX, Birmingham AL and Houma LA.
Sharga added, “It’s probably not a surprise that almost all of the metro areas where foreclosure activity increased on a month-to-month basis (foreclosure start increases in ID, NB, NC, OH, IL, NY, and SC) are also places where unemployment rates are higher than the nation average, and in many cases have been hotspots of COVID-19 infections.”
Additionally, bank repossessions increased +28% from September to October.
Despite increased foreclosure activity and bank repossessions month-over-month, it’s important to keep in mind that annual increases remain down comparatively speaking. Annually, foreclosure activity in October 2020 is down -79% compared to October 2019 and bank repossessions are down -81% compared to last year at this same time.
CoreLogic’s latest numbers also indicate that 150-day mortgage delinquency rates just hit the highest levels in two decades and that the share of all loans currently in some state of delinquency now stands at 6.6%, up +2.9 percentage points from one year ago.
Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said, “…even though foreclosure rates are at a historic low, the spike in 150-day past-due loans points to bumpy waters ahead.”
Thanks to ATTOM Data Solutions and RealtyTrac, CoreLogic. and Millionacres (service of MotleyFools).
Also read: Foreclosure Activity Creeping Up by +13% in January 2020, Top Major Metros Increasing & Decreasing in Foreclosure Starts, Cities with Greatest Annual Home Seller Gains in Q2 2020
