Foreclosure Report

February 8, 2008

An interesting perspective on our current problem regarding home foreclosures was revealed in a recent report from RealtyTrac Inc. More than 2.2 million foreclosure filings were recorded last year. That’s a 75 percent increase over 2006. However, a closer look at fourth quarter numbers included in the report shows slightly divergent trends to close out the year.

While bank repossessions (REOs) spiked to more than twice the level they were at in the fourth quarters of 2006 and were up 35 percent from last year’s third quarter, auction and default notices were actually down 6 percent from the third quarter to the fourth quarter. But they were still up by 75 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006. This may reflect the banks’ willingness to give borrowers more leeway, helping them work out a plan that would be a better alternative to a foreclosure.

Posted in Lending, Real Estate