Foreclosure reports are down 18% from a year ago, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions, representing an 82% decline in foreclosures from their peak in the first half of 2010.
A total of 152,760 U.S. properties had a foreclosure filing in the second quarter of 2019, down 6% from the previous quarter and down 19% from a year ago, ATTOM revealed.
Q2 was the 11th consecutive quarter in which U.S. foreclosure activity was below the pre-recession average of 278,912 properties per quarter.
In the first half of 2019, the number of foreclosures also fell, totaling just 296,458 U.S. properties.
“Our midyear 2019 foreclosure activity helps to show an overall view on how foreclosure activity is trending downward,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM. “Of course, you still have pockets across the nation where foreclosure activity is seeing some flare-ups."
A total of 177,015 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in the first six months of 2019, ATTOM revealed. This is down 8% from the first half of 2018 and down 84% from its peak in the first half of 2009.
Teta said foreclosure starts signal what markets are bear watching.
“For instance, in looking at the largest markets across the nation with the greatest annual increase in foreclosure starts, four out of the five markets were in Florida,” Teta pointed out.
The average foreclosure timeline also dropped to its lowest level since Q3 of 2018, with properties foreclosed in Q2 of 2019 taking an average of 716 days from the first public foreclosure notice to complete the foreclosure process. This is down from 835 days in the previous quarter.
