“After spiking 8 percent in January, foreclosures filings have resumed their downward spiral RealtyTrac said today. Its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for February notes that filings, including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions or completed foreclosures, decreased by 10 percent from January and were 27 percent below levels one year earlier. There were a total of 112,498 filings during the month, the lowest monthly total since December 2006.
Foreclosure starts, which increased 10 percent in January retreated 9 percent in February to a total of 51,842, a 98 month low and 27 percent lower than in February 2013. Foreclosure auctions were scheduled for the first time on 47,715 properties, down 15 percent from the previous month and 21 percent from a year earlier. Bank repossessions (REO) rose less than 1 percent from January to 30,307 but this was 33 percent below the completed foreclosures in February 2013.
There were states that ran counter to each of the national trends but it was not necessarily the same states seeing increases in all categories. Nineteen states had higher numbers of scheduled auctions than a year earlier withOregon jumping 389 percent and Utah and Connecticut each up over 140 percent. Connecticut was among the 15 states with an increase in REO as well, jumping 162 percent, along with New York (108 percent), Maryland (98 percent), and New Jersey (90 percent). New Jersey also had the largest increase in foreclosure starts with 126 percent more in February 2014 than in February 2013.
States with the highest foreclosure rates in February were Florida, Maryland, and Nevada. But while Florida and Nevada remain on a downward trajectory, Maryland continues to increase. It is now in second place nationally with a filing for one in every 557 housing units after activity increased in February for the 20th consecutive month. On a year-over-year basis, Maryland foreclosure starts increased 15 percent, scheduled foreclosure auctions increased 36 percent, and bank repossessions increased 98 percent.
Florida remains the most active state for foreclosure filings with one in every 372 households affected. However, February marked the 12th consecutive monthly drop in foreclosure starts and the sixth for decreases in bank repossessions. Scheduled auctions decreased 2 percent on an annual basis in February after increasing for 13 straight months.”