Despite a an increase in first-quarter foreclosure filings to start the year, the foreclosure rate for the opening quarter of 2018 was much lower than a year ago, according to a report from ATTOM Data Solutions.
The first-quarter foreclosure rate is down 19 percent from a year ago despite a 4 percent uptick from the closing quarter of 2017, according to ATTOM’s quarterly Foreclosure Market Report.
The report also noted that the 189,870 first-quarter foreclosure filings were 32 percent lower than the pre-recession average of 278,912. The first quarter also was the 30th straight month with a year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity.
The ATTOM report noted that 45 percent of all properties in foreclosure as of the end of the first quarter were tied to loans originated between 2004 and 2008, down from 50 percent as of the end of Q4 2017 and down from 51 percent from a year ago.
“Less than half of all active foreclosures are now tied to loans originated during the last housing bubble, one of several data milestones in this report showing that the U.S. housing market has mostly cleared out the backlog of bad loans that triggered the housing and financial crisis nearly a decade ago,” ATTOM Senior Vice President Daren Blomquist said in a press release. “Meanwhile we are beginning to see early signs that some post-recession loan vintages are defaulting at a slightly elevated rate, a sign that some loosening of lending standards has occurred in recent years. Consequently, foreclosure starts are trending higher compared to a year ago in an increasing number of local markets--some of which are a bit surprising given the overall strength of housing in those markets.”
ATTOM also reported that 74,341 properties saw foreclosure filings in March, a 21 percent increase from the record low set in the previous month but still down 11 percent from a year ago.
In a separate report, CoreLogic reported that 4.9 percent of mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 or more days past due, including foreclosure) in January, down 0.2 percent from the previous year.
CoreLogic also reported that the foreclosure inventory rate dropped to 0.6 percent, down 0.2 percentage points from 0.8 percent a year ago. Since August, the foreclosure inventory rate has remained 0.6 percent, the lowest level since June 2007. The January foreclosure inventory rate was the lowest in 11 years.
ATTOM reported 92,703 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in the first quarter, an 8 percent uptick from the previous quarter but still down 10 percent from a year ago, the 11th consecutive quarter with a year-over-year decrease in U.S. foreclosure starts. Twenty-three of 53 metropolitan statistical areas with at least 1 million people (43 percent) posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts in the first quarter, led by Indianapolis (up 148 percent); Minneapolis-St. Paul, (up 64 percent); Louisville, Ky. (up 36 percent); Austin, Texas (up 30 percent); and Oklahoma City (up 23 percent).
Lenders repossessed 65,413 U.S. properties through foreclosure in the first quarter, down 2 percent from the previous quarter and down 28 percent from a year ago, the eighth consecutive quarter with a year-over-year decrease in U.S. REOs.
ATTOM also reported properties foreclosed in the first quarter had been in the foreclosure process an average of 791 days, down 23 percent from an average 1,027 days for properties foreclosed in the fourth quarter and down 3 percent from an average of 814 days for properties foreclosed a year ago.
States with the longest average foreclosure timeline for properties foreclosed in the first quarter were Nevada (1,765 days), Hawaii (1,584 days), Florida (1,247 days), Indiana (1,245 days) and New Jersey (1,182 days). States with the shortest average time to foreclose were Virginia (193 days), Mississippi (212 days), Wyoming (252 days), West Virginia (270 days) and Arkansas (282 days).