Real Estate Market Trends: Foreclosures at Six-Year Low ...

U.S. foreclosure filings hit a six-year low in January, due in large part to new homeowner protections in California, according to a report released yesterday by RealtyTrac, an online market place for foreclosed properties.

A total of 150,864 default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were reported on U.S. properties in January, a 28 percent decrease from January 2012, and the lowest rate since June 2006, RealtyTrac reported.

The decline is due in large part to the changing legal landscape in the California mortgage market, which experienced a 75 percent decrease from January 2012 to January 2013 to the lowest level since 2005.

?The U.S. foreclosure landscape in January was profoundly altered by the effects of new legislation that took effect in California on the first of the year,? Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said in a statement, referring to a ?Homeowners? Bill of Rights? that imposes stricter regulations on mortgage servicers operating in California. ?For the first time since January 2007 California did not have the most properties with foreclosure filings of any state. Instead that dubious distinction went to Florida.?

For the fifth month running, Florida has had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation and in January became the state with the highest number of properties with foreclosure filings, a position California had held since January 2007.

Nevada posted the second highest foreclosure rate for the fourth consecutive month, while Illinois in January became the state with the third highest rate. Rounding out the top-10 list are Arizona, Georgia, Ohio, Washington, California, Indiana and Michigan.

Across the nation, bank repossessions fell 24 percent from January 2012 to their lowest level since February 2008, according to RealtyTrac.

Scheduled foreclosure activity was mixed, with some of the biggest annual gains in foreclosure starts taking place in non-judicial foreclosure states experiencing court delays to foreclosure activity. Most notably, foreclosure starts increased 539 percent in Arkansas, 179 percent in Washington and 87 percent in Nevada.

Source: http://www.millionairecorner.com/article/real-estate-market-trends-foreclosures-six-year-low

heidi klum