Foreclosure filings down
According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings and repossessions for 2011 dropped to their lowest level since 2007, down 33 percent for the year to 2.7 million. The company reports that one in ever 69 American homes had at least one foreclosure filing during 2011 and over 804,000 homes were repossessed.
This marks a substantial reduction from 2010’s 1.05 million repossessed homes and is at the lowest levels seen since 2007. Unfortunately, there is not currently a “reality” in the foreclosure numbers as the robosignature debacle has falsely reduced the volume of foreclosures on the market as the process has slowed and in many cases frozen, causing deep backlogs, while new regulations have altered the servicing process.
In other words, a drop in foreclosures is no longer a reliable economic indicator.
“Foreclosures were in full delay mode in 2011, resulting in a dramatic drop in foreclosure activity for the year,” said RealtyTrac CEO, Brandon Moore in a statement. The average time to process a foreclosure was 348 days in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 43 days from the fourth quarter of 2010.
Moore indicated there were “strong signs” toward the end of 2011 that lenders are working through foreclosure backlogs and as a result, foreclosure activity will likely rise in 2012.
Regionally, Nevada continued to be the worst hit state, with one in 16 households receiving a default notice in 2011, followed by Arizona, California, Georgia, Utah, Michigan and Florida.
