The National Foreclosure Rate Hits It’s 5 Year Low In September

The third quarter housing and foreclosure report was released by RealtyTrac in September and for the first time, in a long time; it appears that the nation is doing better. All foreclosure filings including initial default notices, auction schedules and even bank repossessions have decreased by seven percent from the month of August. It also showed a decrease of 16 percent from the previous year which made it the lowest national rate since July of 2007.

For the first time since 2005, the state of Florida has made it to the top of the list for properties that are starting the foreclosure procedure. The major reason why Florida has not made this list before is because they are what is known as a “judicial” foreclosure state. This means that in the state of Florida the courts must be involved while other states do not require that. Therefore, many of the non-judicial states have depleted and posted their REO (real estate owned) properties already.

While it appears to be a threat to Florida’s housing market and recovery that is not the way Sarasota Realtors see it. Most Sarasota Real Estate Agents are welcoming the increase in available properties, stating that there are not enough properties on the market. Because there have been very few foreclosed properties going on the market, the housing inventory in Florida has been very weak and Realtors are willing to take as many properties as possible. This is good news for Siesta Key Real Estate buyers, since the inventory has been so low.

The National Statistics and Findings

It is believed that the major cause of the decrease in the nation’s foreclosure rate is due to the massive drop of foreclosure properties in the non-judicial states such as Arizona, California, Michigan and Texas. Yet several judicial states such as New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Florida continue to see a substantial increase in foreclosure properties year after year. Because the foreclosure starting process has declined from both the previous quarter and from the year prior, it is reversing a bump in new foreclosures that are starting up in the second quarter.

The Findings and Statistics of Florida

The end of the third quarter was the 11th month in a row that Florida saw an increase in the start-up of foreclosures and this is the first time ever that the state of Florida ranked the highest nationwide. In September alone, bank repossessions increased by 23 percent from the previous year. Although nine other states had a greater increase in the third quarter, all the different levels of foreclosures in Florida had increased by 14 percent. This means that one out of every 117 mortgaged homeowners was in one of the stages of foreclosure and the average amount of days that it takes to make it through the foreclosure process has decreased slightly from 861 to 858 days.

For more information on Siesta Key Foreclosures or any Siesta Key Real Estate, check out our buyers guide or contact one of our agents and we'll be happy to help.