Foreclosure Starts Fall to 8-Year Low

Foreclosure activity continued to wane in August on a yearly basis, according to market data tracker RealtyTrac, with the number of properties starting the process dropping to an almost eight year low.

The total number of foreclosure filings in the U.S., including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, fell 2 percent in August from July bring the foreclosure rate to one out of every 1.019 households receiving some notice. Compared with last year, total foreclosure activity plummeted 34 percent, marking 35 straight months of year-over-year decreases.

Foreclosure starts, those properties entering the process for the first time, fell to 55,775 in August down 44 percent from August 2012 and reaching a low not seen since December 2005.

Bank repossessions however, actually increased 6 percent last month from July, but still dropped 25 percent from the year before.

“This is a strong indicator that the crisis is over,” said RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist about the August statistics. Although pleased with the direction of foreclosure numbers, he warned that distressed propertied may still plague the mortgage market for the near future. “The foreclosure floodwaters have receded in most parts of the country, but lenders and communities continue to clean up the damage left behind, which means the recent uptick in bank repossessions is a trend that will likely continue into next year.”

Nevada was one of those areas still cleaning up. It had the highest foreclosure rate in August, with one in every 359 households receiving a filing, an 11 percent increase from August 2012.Foreclosure starts in Nevada tripled during the month.

Florida dropped to second place after three months at the top. One in every 383 Florida households received a filing in August. Ohio was third with one foreclosure filling for every 537 households.

The national foreclosure rate was one filing for every 1,019 households.

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