Authorities initiated the foreclosure process for 53,007 properties across the U.S. — a number that’s up slightly from July but still very low overall.
According to the latest data released on Thrusday by Attom Data Solutions, foreclosure filings are up 4 percent from July 2019 but down 24 percent from the same time last year. In other words, 1 in only every 2,554 homes across the country received a foreclosure filing in the month of August.
Foreclosure starts, or the first step in the process of having one’s house seized due to inability to pay the mortgage, affected a total of 27,886 properties, up 7 percent from July while still down 15 percent from last year.
Attom Data Solutions
But even as national foreclosure numbers stay low, some parts of the country are seeing rates that counter national trends. Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois and Florida saw some of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates last month — 1 in every 1,106, 1,192, 1,218, 1,562 housing units and 1,633 housing units, respectively.
Urban areas tend to have higher foreclosure rates overall as well — New Jersey’s Trenton and Atlantic City and North Carolina’s Fayetteville had three of the highest numbers across the country. Big cities with the worst rates include Jacksonville, Florida; Baltimore, Maryland; Chicago, Illinois; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
And as the final step in the foreclosure process, lenders repossessed 11,493 U.S. properties in August, up 4 percent from July but down 47 percent from last year. But while foreclosure and failure to pay a mortgage is a serious problem for some, the numbers paint a good picture overall. August marks the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year decreases — caused, in no small part, by high employment rates and a strong economy.