Encouraging Real Estate Foreclosure Update
July 12, 2013 5:03 pmMuch attention has been given to the real estate sector of the economy during and following the financial Crisis. This blog post looks at real estate sector with specific emphasis on foreclosure activity.
Real estate markets continue to gain ground. U.S. Foreclosure activity has interesting figures that also show improvements regarding housing markets. According to Realty Trac this week, year to year U.S. foreclosure starts are projected to decrease from 1.1 million to just over 800,000. Additionally, the number of foreclosure starts in June was at a 7.5 year low. Not since late 2005 has the number of foreclosure starts been this low. Bank repossessions are also improving. The numbers of 2013 bank repossessions are projected to be roughly 500,000, suggesting an estimated 25 % decrease from 2012.
34 states have reported lower overall foreclosure rates, but there are still places in the country that are struggling. Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Illinois, and Georgia all have higher foreclosure rates and are the highest this year (to date). Florida alone has all five of the worst metropolitan areas for foreclosures. However, it is important to note that foreclosure laws vary by state and so comparisons may be more tricky then suggested. In particular, this could imply that Florida may have certain laws that make foreclosure rates look worse or more susceptible to foreclosures in general.
The time-line that foreclosures are taking varies per state and has increased at an almost linear rate since 2007. New York and New Jersey are fighting for top spot in longest average time to foreclose. Texas is the unchallenged last. A notable state, Florida, is just behind New York and New Jersey. This is represented in the graph below.
Real estate markets continue to improve. As for a true view of shadow inventory, that remains to be seen. Another positive aspect is the real estate internet marketing statistics 2013 continue to show improvements from internet search engines.
