Foreclosure filings increased 6 percent from September to October, marking the largest monthly increase in foreclosure starts since August 2011, according to RealtyTrac’s October 2015 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. However, the housing data provider noted that foreclosure filings are still down 6 percent from the same month last year.
Default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were reported on 115,134 properties in October, RealtyTrac said. The company attributed the monthly increase in overall foreclosure activity to a 12-percent monthly jump in foreclosure starts, with 48,605 properties beginning the foreclosure process in October.
The increase in foreclosure starts is also due to customary seasonal factors, said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.
“However, the 12-percent increase this October is more than double the average 5-percent monthly increase in the past five Octobers, and the even more dramatic monthly increases in some states is certainly a concern,” Blomquist noted.
Thirty-four states saw increases in October foreclosure starts.
Maryland was hit particularly hard. After dropping out of the top-5 state foreclosure rates in September for the first time, it’s back on top with a 300-percent spike in foreclosure starts. Other states with high increases of foreclosure starts were Michigan, with a 37-percent jump; Washington, with a 34-percent jump; California, with a 21-percent jump; and Illinois, with a 20-percent jump.
However, with that bad news comes some good news: Foreclosure starts in October were down 14 percent compared to the same month in 2014.
“The upward trend in foreclosure starts in those states in some cases could be an indication of fissures in economic fundamentals driving more distress, and in other cases, is more likely an indication of long-term delinquencies finally entering the foreclosure pipeline,” Blomquist said.
