Foreclosure Rate Artificially Low
According to data provided by RealtyTrac, about 1.4 US million properties entered some stage of foreclosure in the first half of 2011. However, that figure should be significantly higher, the realty tracking firm says, as the numbers are depressed by the extra care taken in foreclosing properties in the wake of the so-called robo-signing scandal. Some lenders are also putting off foreclosures because they are having difficulty selling the homes already on their books.
James Saccacio, RealtyTrac's CEO, estimated that as many as 1 million foreclosures that should have taken place in 2011 have been held off, and will now happen in 2012, or even later. "This casts an ominous shadow over the housing market, where recovery is unlikely to happen until the current and forthcoming inventory of distressed properties can be whittled down to a manageable number," Saccacio said.
Foreclosures actually increased 4 percent in June, after declining in each of the two previous months. Foreclosure documents were filed on 222,740 US homes last month, down 29 percent from June 2010 and the ninth straight month in which foreclosure activity fell on a year-to-year basis. These declines have brought foreclosure numbers from the first half of the year down 25 percent from the previous six months and 29 percent down from the first half of last year.
Among individual states, Nevada continued to be the hardest-hot by foreclosures, posting the highest rate of seizures again during the first half of the year. Almost 5 percent (1 in 21) of all properties in Nevada received at least one foreclosure-related notice between January and June. Arizona had the second-highest rate foreclosure rate, with 1 in 36 homes getting a notice, while California had the third highest rate at 1 in 51.
|
