RealtyTrac released its Q1 and March 2016 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, showing first quarter foreclosure activity was below pre-recession levels in 78 out of 216 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas (36 percent) analyzed in the report.
Nationwide, the report shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 289,116 U.S. properties in the first quarter of 2016, down 4 percent from the previous quarter and 8 percent from the first quarter of 2015 to the lowest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2006.
“Despite a seasonal bump higher in March, foreclosure activity in most markets continues to trend lower and back toward more healthy, stable levels,” RealtyTrac Senior Vice President Daren Blomquist said. “More than one-third of the 216 local markets we analyzed were below their pre-recession foreclosure activity averages in the first quarter, and we would expect a growing number of markets to move below that milestone the rest of this year — while the number of markets with a lingering low-grade fever of foreclosure activity continues to shrink.”
Nationwide, the 289,116 properties with foreclosure filings in the first quarter was still 4 percent higher than the pre-recession quarterly average of 278,912 properties with foreclosure filings from Q1 2006 through Q3 2007.
Among 216 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, a total of 78 (36 percent) posted Q1 2016 foreclosure activity below pre-recession average levels, including Los Angeles (27 percent below pre-recession average); Dallas (65 percent below pre-recession average); Houston (64 percent below pre-recession average); Miami (19 percent below pre-recession average) and Atlanta (57 percent below pre-recession average).
Among the 216 major metro areas analyzed for the report, 210 (97 percent) were below peak foreclosure activity levels in the first quarter of 2016.
The monthly increase in March was driven by a jump in pre-foreclosure notices: foreclosure starts and scheduled foreclosure auctions. Foreclosure starts — the first public notice starting the foreclosure process — increased 21 percent from the previous month but was still down 11 percent from a year ago.
March foreclosure starts increased from a year ago in 20 states, including Connecticut (up 169 percent), Arizona (up 125 percent), Delaware (up 78 percent), Iowa (up 64 percent) and Massachusetts (up 51 percent).