August Sees Foreclosures Once More Marching Full Speed Ahead

August has seen a surge in issuance of foreclosure notices although there has been a modest decline in auctions and repossessions. This surge could indicate that banks are picking up where they paused due to the robo-signing scandal. The worst affected states are Arizona, Nevada and California as regards foreclosure rate.

Last August saw foreclosures once more marching full speed ahead. Foreclosure filings increased last month as more house owners began to lag behind on their housing loans.

In August this year the foreclosure posting went up by 7% as compared with last July. It was however 33% less than what it was one year previously. According to RealtyTrac, the leading tracker of foreclosure market on the Internet, August was the 11th running month showing year-over-year decrease.

According to the report of RealtyTrac, 228,098 residential houses in America was in some stage of foreclosure last month. The notice of default (NOD) generally marks the onset of the foreclosure process. The notices went up by 33% from last July. The next stage comprises of foreclosure related auctions and repossessions by the bank. Both stages showed a modest decline.

The increase in notices of default could be interpreted to be a signal that the banks or the lenders have started to make the final push through the documentation of foreclosures.

Previously this had been held in abeyance because of the eruption of robo-signing scandal last autumn remarked James Saccacio, the CEO of RealtyTrac. In a release he said, “It also foreshadows more bank repossessions in the coming months as these new foreclosures make their way through the process”.

In the middle of this gloom there is good news – number of repossessions by the banks have declined last August; it is the lowest since the last six months. The decline is 37% from the peak reached in bank repossessions in 2010 September. The schedule for auctions lists 84,405 foreclosed houses – the lowest since the last three years or more.

The worst hit foreclosure hit areas have been Arizona, California and Nevada. For over four years and six months Nevada ranks first in the country in foreclosure rate. Although repossessions and default notices decline the state witnessed an increase of default notices by 31%. In Nevada one out of a cluster of 118 houses has received a foreclosure notice last August.

California ranked second with one out of a cluster of 226 houses being in foreclosure; in Arizona the proportion is one out of a cluster of 248 hoses is in foreclosure; it ranked third.