Greenbook: A Local Guide to Chesapeake Living - Issue 6 | Page 31

FORECLOSURE UPDATE
greenbook
J. Melvin Premier properties

U.S. Foreclosure Starts Come at 10-Year-Low
RealtyTrac® recently released
its Midyear 2015 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which
shows a total of 597,589 U.S.
properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled
auctions and bank repossessions
— in the first half of 2015, down
13 percent from the previous six
months and down 3 percent from
the same time period in 2014.
A total of 304,439 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in the first half of the year,
down 4 percent from a year ago
and 18 percent below foreclosure
starts in the first half of 2006
before the housing price bubble
burst in August 2006. First-half
foreclosure starts 2015 were at
their lowest level in any year
since RealtyTrac began tracking
in 2006 — a 10-year low.
“U.S. foreclosure starts have not
only returned to pre-housing crisis levels, they have fallen well
below those pre-crisis levels and
are still searching for a floor,
down 4 percent from a year
ago,” says Daren Blomquist, vice
president at RealtyTrac. “Loans
originated in the last five years
continue to perform better than
historic norms, with tighter lending standards and more cautious
borrower behavior

acting as important guardrails
for the real estate boom of the
past three years.”
There were 19 states where
foreclosure starts in the first
half of 2015 were at or below
their pre-crisis levels of 2006,
including California, Florida,
Arizona, Georgia and Illinois.
Bank repossessions still
37% above pre-crisis levels
A total of 209,281 U.S.
properties were repossessed
by lenders in first half of 2015,
up 20 percent from a year
ago and 37 percent above the
number of bank repossessions
(REOs) in the first half of 2006
before the housing bubble burst.
“Less-disciplined loans
originated during the last
housing boom continue to
account for the majority of
distress still hanging over the
housing market, with two-thirds
of all loans in foreclosure on
loans originated between 2004
and 2008,” Blomquist notes.
“An increasing number of these
failed bubble-era loans finally
exited the foreclosure process in
the first half of 2015, resulting
in accelerating bank repossessions that are still well above

pre-crisis levels along with recordlong average foreclosure timelines for
properties foreclosed in the second
quarter.”
First-half bank repossessions in 2015
were above 2006 levels in 35 states,
including California, Florida, Arizona,
Illinois and Nevada.
Florida, New Jersey, Maryland
post highest foreclosure rates in
first half of 2015
Florida foreclosure activity in the
first half of 2015 decreased 22
percent from a year ago, but the
state still posted the nation’s highest foreclosure rate: 1.06 percent of
housing units (one in every 95) with
a foreclosure filing during the sixmonth period.
New Jersey foreclosure activity in
the first half of 2015 increased 24
percent from a year ago, boosting
the state’s foreclosure rate to second
highest nationwide: 0.92 percent of
housing units (one in every 109) with
a foreclosure filing during the
six-month period.
Maryland’s foreclosure rate was
almost identical to the New Jersey
foreclosure rate, but was slightly
lower and ranked No. 3 highest
among the states despite a 1 percent
year-over-year decrease in foreclogreenbook | fall & Winter 2015

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