Foreclosure activity shows signs of ramping up in Q3 (CHARTS)

Foreclosure activity shows signs of ramping up in Q3 (CHARTS) RealtyTrac: Default notices rise 14% from second quarter By Inman News Inman News™ In the third quarter, a downward trend in nationwide foreclosure activity showed signs of reversing, according to the latest report from foreclosure data site RealtyTrac. At the same time, foreclosure processing and sales timelines hit record highs, the report said. After three straight quarters of declines, foreclosure activity in the third quarter remained essentially flat compared to the second quarter, rising a slight 0.35 percent to filings on 610,337 properties. That's still a 34.4 percent decrease compared to third-quarter 2010. One in every 213 housing units received a filing -- a default notice, scheduled auction, or bank repossession -- in the third quarter. In September, the last month of the third quarter, 214,855 properties received a foreclosure filing, a decrease of 6 percent month to month and 38 percent year over year. September marks a full 12 months in which foreclosure filings have been dropping on a yearly basis, the report said. "U.S. foreclosure activity has been mired down since October of last year, when the robo-signing controversy sparked a flurry of investigations into lender foreclosure procedures and paperwork," said James Saccacio, RealtyTrac's CEO, in a statement. "While foreclosure activity in September and the third quarter continued to register well below levels from a year ago, there is evidence that this temporary downward trend is about to change direction, with foreclosure activity slowly beginning to ramp back up." Saccacio attributed the third quarter's marginal increase in foreclosure activity to a jump in new default notices, "indicating that lenders are cautiously throwing more wood into the foreclosure fireplace after spending months ... trying to clear the chimney of sloppily filed foreclosures," he said. Default notices in the third quarter rose 14 percent from the second quarter, to 195,878, but remained down 27 percent compared to third-quarter 2010. States to see especially big jumps in default notices quarter to quarter were Massachusetts (65 percent), New Jersey (29 percent), Florida (24 percent), Ohio (21 percent), and California (21 percent). Foreclosure auctions fell 6 percent quarter to quarter and 41 percent year over year in the third quarter, to 217,929. Bank repossessions (REOs) fell 4 percent quarter to quarter and 32 percent year over year, to 196,530. Nevertheless, some states did post high quarter-to-quarter jumps in REOs: Massachusetts (up 62 percent), Oregon (47 percent), Georgia (42 percent), and Illinois (27 percent).