Foreclosure Starts Drop to 11-Year Low in July Aug 11, 2016 Daren Blomquist

Bank Repossessions Down 41 Percent From Year Ago
Highest State Foreclosure Rates in Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland

Banks started the public foreclosure process on 36,863 U.S. residential properties in July 2016, down 5 percent from the previous month and down 19 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since May 2005 — a more than 11-year low, according to new foreclosure data released this week by ATTOM Data Solutions, the new parent company of RealtyTrac.

Banks completed the foreclosure process through repossession (REO) on 27,907 U.S. properties in July, down 8 percent from the previous month and down 41 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since January 2015.

One in every 1,540 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing during the month of July. States with the highest July foreclosure rates were Delaware (one in every 570 housing units with a foreclosure filing); New Jersey (one in every 610); Maryland (one in every 772); Nevada (one in every 805); and Florida (one in every 808).

Among metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates were Atlantic City, New Jersey (one in every 232 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Trenton, New Jersey (one in every 515); Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida (one in every 565); Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Florida (one in every 568); and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida (one in every 698).

Counter to the national trend, 13 states posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts in July, including Delaware (up 113 percent), Arizona (up 76 percent), Utah (up 63 percent), Connecticut up 50 percent, Oregon (up 20 percent), South Carolina (up 3 percent), Massachusetts (up 3 percent), and Virginia (up 3 percent).

Out of 1,713 counties with foreclosure starts in July, 609 (36 percent) posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts, including Maricopa County, Arizona (up 43 percent); Broward County, Florida (up 2 percent); Cuyahoga County, Ohio (up 3 percent); Prince George’s County, Maryland (up 33 percent); and Baltimore City, Maryland (up 11 percent).