US foreclosures plunge 21 percent in November

Irvine, CA, United States (AHN) – Home foreclosure filings in the United States fell last month to the lowest levels in two years with one in 492 households receiving a filing, according to online real estate data company RealtyTrac.

Only 262,339 U.S. properties were seized or were served with default or auction notices in November, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released Thursday by RealtyTrac.

That number was down 21 percent from October, the largest decline since the company began keeping records in January 2005. It was also down 14 percent compared to October 2009.

The top 10 states for foreclosures were Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada and Utah. They accounted for 70 percent of the filings.

RealtyTrac attributed the decline in foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions—to several factors. However, the main factor was the result of the scandal over sloppy procedures by some banks that resulted in banks foreclosing on properties without the paperwork to prove they had a right to foreclose.

“Foreclosure activity decreased dramatically in November, with fewer than 300,000 properties receiving a foreclosure notice for the first time since February 2009,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer at RealtyTrac in a statement. “While part of the decrease can be attributed to a seasonal drop of 7 to 10 percent that typically occurs in November, fallout from the foreclosure robo-signing controversy forced lenders and servicers to hit the pause button on many foreclosures while they scrambled to revamp their internal procedures and revise or resubmit questionable paperwork.”

RealtyTrac broke down foreclosure activity by type as follows:

A total of 78,955 U.S. properties received default notices (NOD, LIS) in November, a 21 percent decrease from the previous month and a 31 percent decrease from November 2009 — the 10th straight annual decrease in default notices. November’s default notices total was the lowest since July 2007.

Default notices in states that practice judicial foreclosures (called Lis Pendens filings) decreased 31 percent from the previous month and were down 43 percent from November 2009. Meanwhile non-judicial default notices (NOD) decreased 9 percent from the previous month and were down 12 percent from November 2009.

Foreclosure auctions (NTS, NFS) were scheduled for the first time on a total of 115,956 U.S. properties in November, a 16 percent decrease from the previous month and unchanged from November 2009. Scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions (NFS) decreased 34 percent from the previous month and were down 12 percent from November 2009, while scheduled non-judicial foreclosure auctions (NTS) decreased 7 percent from the previous month but increased 5 percent from November 2009.

Lenders foreclosed on 67,428 U.S. properties in November, down 28 percent from the previous month and down 12 percent from November 2009. Bank repossessions (REOs) decreased month-over-month in 37 states and the District of Columbia. November’s REO total was the lowest since May 2009, but November’s numbers pushed the year-to-date 2010 REO total to more than 980,000 — already above the record year-end total for 2009.

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