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Foreclosure Activity Sparked by Surge in Default Notices

Foreclosure activity increased 7% in August over the prior month – but was down 33% compared to the same month a year ago, according to new figures compiled by RealtyTrac.  

“The big increase in new foreclosure actions may be a signal that lenders are starting to push through some of the foreclosures delayed by robosigning and other documentation problems,” said James Sacaccio, CEO of RealtyTrac, Irvine, Calif. “It also foreshadows more bank repossessions in the coming months as these new foreclosures make their way through the process.”

Servicers filed roughly 228,000 foreclosure-related actions —default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions—in August, up 12,000 from July.

According to RealtyTrac, one in every 570 housing units was involved in some type of foreclosure filing during the month.

Default notices experienced a drastic 33% increase from July with 78,880 properties entering the foreclosure process. The jump represents the biggest month-over-month increase since August 2007, but is still down 18% year-over-year just prior to the robosigning scandal which erupted in October 2010.

For the 56th straight month, Nevada had the highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 118 housing units filing for foreclosure. The state had 9,677 properties in some stage of foreclosure, a 3% decrease from the previous month and 28% lower from August 2010.

California ranked second in foreclosure rates (one in every 226 households) followed by Arizona (one in every 248 properties entering foreclosure.)

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