Foreclosure filings in the US rose 8 per cent month-on-month in July, and 55 per cent compared with the same period a year ago, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac.
On a more granular level, bank repossessions, or REOs, outstripped both default notices (up 53 per cent year on year) and auction notices (up 11 per cent year on year). REOs increased 184 per cent in July compared with the year ago period.
James Saccacio, chief executive at RealtyTrac, said the sharp rise in REOs had contributed to a “bloated inventory of bank-owned properties for sale”:
RealtyTrac now has more than three quarters of a million properties in its active REO database, a number that represents approximately 17 percent of the inventory of existing homes for sale reported in June by the National Association of Realtors.
Nevada retained the dubious distinction of having the highest foreclosure rate in the US, with one in every 106 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.
Foreclosure activity in Nevada rose 15 per cent from the previous month and 97 per cent from July 2007; the total number of properties in foreclosures now exceeds 10,000, RealtyTrac said.
Bank repossessions in Nevada rose 384 per cent on a year-over-year basis, while default notices climbed 59 per cent and auction notices were increased by 31 per cent.
Elsewhere in the housing market, nominal home prices fell 10.7 per cent versus a year ago, data from First American CoreLogic show.
Mark Fleming, chief economist at the analytics firm, said the data did not bode well for the market:
Given our home price expectations for the remainder of this year, we expect 2.7m pre-foreclosure and foreclosure filings in 2008, up nearly 50 per cent from 2007.
Nominal home price declines have stabilized in the 10 to 11 percent range for several months; however, given the surge in inflation, real inflation-adjusted home prices are still declining at a faster rate.
Between April and June home price declines were very flat, falling by an average of 10.8 percent, but real home price declines accelerated from April’s 15.3 percent to June’s 16.8 percent.
Related links:
Rising mortgage rates drive down home prices, study finds - HousingWire article / PDF of study
One third of new owners owe more than house is worth - Bloomberg
What’s driving mortgage defaults? Not just negative equity - FT Alphaville
