New foreclosure filings jump in Tampa Bay area

Bucking a national trend, the Tampa Bay area saw an increase in new foreclosure filings in the first half of the year.

According to the real estate information service Attom Data Solutions, Tampa Bay area filings jumped 18% compared to the same period a year earlier while filings nationally dropped 18%.

Despite the increase in new foreclosure starts, Tampa Bay foreclosure activity remains at relatively low levels.

Another real estate service, CoreLogic, found that 0.8% of all bay area homes with mortgages were in some stage of foreclosure in May compared to 1.2% a year earlier.

And the percentage of homeowners at least 30 days late on their payments dropped from 5.8 percent in May 2018 to 3.7% this May.