August Foreclosure Filings Up 7%

Foreclosure filings were up 7% in August, compared to July, marking the eleventh straight month of year-over-year declines according to a report from RealtyTrac, a marketer of foreclosed properties. As more homebuyers fell behind on their mortgage payments, the housing markets in Nevada, California and Arizona continue to be the hardest hit by foreclosures.
Although foreclosure filings were 33% lower than they were a year ago, 228,098 homes received some kind of foreclosure filing in August. Default notices, which typically initiate the foreclosure process, surged more 33% from July.
Foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions both fell slightly. Lenders repossessed 64,813 homes in August, a six-month low. 84,405 homes were scheduled for foreclosure auctions, the lowest number in more than three years.
Previous reports had shown that foreclosure proceeding had slowed down as a result of the “robo-signing” controversy last fall, the increase in default notices may indicate that lenders are finally working through their backlog.
For more than four-and-a-half years now, Nevada has had the highest foreclosure rate in the U.S. In August, Nevada default notices increased 31%. One in every 118 Nevada homes received a foreclosure filing. In second place is California, with one in every 226 homes in foreclosure, and in third, Arizona, with one in every 248 homes.