This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 13, 2012 - Missouri and Illinois ranked among 33 states with annual increases in foreclosure starts in May, as total U.S. foreclosure activity rose 9 percent over April -- but was still down 4 percent from a year ago, according to a new foreclosure report.
For market watchers looking for signs that the housing mess is finally over, the numbers from RealtyTrac, a company that tracks foreclosures, offer the answer: Not yet.
“U.S. foreclosure activity has now decreased on a year-over-year basis for 20 straight months including May, but the jump in May foreclosure starts shows that it’s going to be a bumpy ride down to the bottom of this foreclosure cycle,” said Realty Trac’s CEO Brandon Moore in the June 14 report.
Moore said the numbers once again indicate that banks are leaning toward short sales and auction sales over repossessions, a trend with less of a negative impact on home values. The average price of a pre-foreclosure home during the first quarter of 2012 was more than $27,000 higher than the average price of a bank-owned home.
Foreclosure starts have averaged 1.6 million nationwide each year for the past five years.
Here are some key points:
- Total foreclosure activity in May included 205,990 foreclosure filings nationwide. Those include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, for a rate of one in every 639 housing units.
- Of that total activity, foreclosure starts -- default notices or scheduled foreclosure auctions -- were filed on 109,051 properties, a 12 percent increase from April and a 16 percent increase from May 2011.
- States with a judicial foreclosure process -- meaning they require court action -- posted a combined 26 percent year-over-year increase in overall foreclosure activity, while nonjudicial states posted a 20 percent decrease.
- Foreclosure starts increased annually in 33 states, 17 with judicial foreclosure processes and 16 with nonjudicial foreclosure processes.
- Missouri ranked among nonjudicial states posting the highest annual increases in foreclosure starts: 35 percent.
- Illinois was among the judicial states posting the highest annual increases in foreclosure starts: 28 percent.
- The St. Louis metropolitan area reported 1,872 total foreclosure filings in May, a rate of one in every 667 housing units, which was slightly better than the national rate. Total foreclosure activity increased by 4.4 percent over April 2012 and by nearly 17 percent over May 2011.
- Illinois ranked fifth in total foreclosure activity in May, with 16,318 filings, or a rate of one in every 325 housing units. The state’s overall foreclosure activity increased nearly 29 percent from April and 54 percent over May 2011.
- Missouri ranked 22nd in total foreclosure activity, with 2,509 total filings and a rate of one in every 1,081 housing units. The state’s overall foreclosure activity increased just 0.4 percent from April and decreased nearly 3 percent from May 2011.
