U.S. foreclosure starts during the first half of the year hit an all-time low since 2005, according to a mid-year report released Thursday, July 16.
Data released by RealtyTrac in its 2015 mid-year foreclosure market report, as quoted by Reuters in its report, showed that 597,589 properties across the U.S. had foreclosure filings, This includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. The foreclosure activity for the first half of the year was down 13 percent compared against the second half of last year. This is also 3 percent lower from the same period of 2014.
In the report, Reuters also cited that 304,439 properties started the foreclosure process during the first half of 2015. This is lower by 4 percent from previous year and down 18 percent during the same period in 2006. This is the lowest foreclosure starts since RealtyTrac started tracking the data in 2006.
Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac vice president said in a report from RISMedia, that foreclosure starts have not only returned to pre-housing crisis levels, it is also tracking below those levels and still searching for a floor, Blomquist added, "Loans originated in the last five years continue to perform better than historic norms, with tighter lending standards and more cautious borrower behavior acting as important guardrails for the real estate boom of the past three years."
A total of 19 states were recorded to have lower foreclosure starts, if not, at the same levels prior the housing crisis of 2006, according to RealtyTrac. These states includes California, Florida, Arizona, Georgia and Illinois.
In the mid-year foreclosure market report, RealtyTrac noted an increase of properties repossessed by lenders during the January to June period. Lenders repossessed 209,281 U.S. properties, this is 20 percent higher from previous year and up 37 percent from the number of bank repossessions during same period of 2006. A total of 35 states also tracked higher bank repossessions levels compared to 2006. These states includes California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Nevada.
For the month of June, 117,055 properties had foreclosure filings, reports RealtyTrac. This is down 8 percent from previous month but 9 percent higher than previous year. Meanwhile, foreclosure starts for June tracked at 49,105 properties, posted a 4 percent decrease from May, but 4 percent higher than last year. The average number of foreclosure timelines also hit new high levels, stated RealtyTrac, posting an average of 629 days to complete the foreclosure process. This is the longest average time since the company started tracking the data in 2007.
