Foreclosures Rise In July

Foreclosures of all types were filed on 109,434 properties in July, an increase of 2% from June, but the figure is still down 16% from one year ago, according to July’s Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac.
July’s report shows that one out of every 1,203 homes in the U.S. had a foreclosure filing during the month of July.
Foreclosure activity recorded includes all default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.
“July was the 46th consecutive month where U.S. foreclosure activity was down on a year-over-year basis,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “After nearly four years of falling foreclosures, we are starting to see evidence that foreclosure numbers are normalizing at the national level. The 16% decrease in July was exactly half the annual decrease we saw a year ago in July 2013, when U.S. foreclosure activity was down 32% on a year-over-year basis.”
Per RealtyTrac’s report, a total of 49,624 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process for the first time in July, which represents a 5% increase from June. But the figure is still down 18% from a year ago, which marks the 24th consecutive month with a year-over-year decrease in U.S. foreclosure starts.
Other highlights from the RealtyTrac report:

Despite the annual decrease nationally, foreclosure starts increased from a year ago in 14 states, including Nevada (up 128%), Texas (up 29%), New York (up 17%), Massachusetts (up 12%), and Michigan (up 6%).

A total of 51,595 U.S. properties were scheduled for foreclosure auction in July, up 10% from the previous month but still down 3% from a year ago. Non-judicial foreclosure auctions increased 26% from June to July, but were still down 7% on a year-over-year basis.

Despite the annual decrease nationally, scheduled foreclosure auctions increased from a year ago in 20 states, including New Jersey (up 105%), Oregon (up 50%), Louisiana (up 32%), Utah (up 30%), Connecticut (up 18%), and New York (up 16%).

Lenders repossessed a total of 25,937 U.S. properties via foreclosure in July, down 4% from the previous month and down 30% from a year ago to the lowest level since April 2007.

Bank repossessions were up in seven states, including Maryland (up 77%), California (up 22%), Oregon (up 13%), and New Jersey (up 12%).

Click next to see a breakdown of the cities and states that saw the largest rises and falls in foreclosure activity in July.