The state posted an overall 17 percent drop in foreclosure activity, but saw a one-third jump in repossessions as lenders continue to clean up from the housing crisis.
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The number of Ohio properties with foreclosure filings – such as default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – fell by about 9 percent in the third quarter, compared to the July-August period a year ago, according to California-based housing analytic firm RealtyTrac. Each state also includes the change in foreclosure activity from the third quarter previous year and the total number of properties involved in foreclosure.
Florida foreclosure starts decreased 28% from a year ago, and scheduled foreclosure auctions were down 46% year-over-year, but bank repossessions in Florida increased 34% from a year ago in the third quarter.
According to the real-estate information company RealtyTrac, foreclosures rose in the third quarter from this time previous year, and many states are seeing significant increases. In Passaic, one in every 139 households faced a foreclosure filing, up 25 percent from a year earlier.
Pierce County’s foreclosure activity increased by 7 percent year over year; Thurston County, a smaller market, was up 19 percent.
Mughrabi attributed much of the pick-up in foreclosures to hedge funds and other investors who have bought distressed mortgages from the government with the intent of either flipping the homes for a profit or taking advantage of the booming rental market once the properties fall into foreclosure. Paul, Minnesota (up 11%), Atlanta, Georgia (up 5%), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (up 1%) and Washington D.C. (up 1%).
Nevertheless, total foreclosures in the county were up 5.3 percent year-over-year, to 497 from 472. US foreclosure activity increased slightly in SeptemberA total of 109,130 USA properties had foreclosure filings in September 2015, down less than 1 percent from the previous month but up 2 percent from a year ago.
Rising home prices have given banks more incentive to take over homes that have languished, sometimes for years, in foreclosure.
A few 43,358 properties started the foreclosure process in September, the lowest level since November 2005. Lenders repossessed a total of 40,308 properties in September, up 10 percent from the previous month and up 76 percent from a year ago.
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Monthly filings have been swinging wildly up and down so far this year, but September’s gain was the biggest.
