Foreclosure activity continued to sink in Southwest Florida last month, tracking the statewide and national trends.
Lenders reported 229 foreclosure filings in the Sarasota-Manatee area in April, down 16 percent over the year, according to a new report from real estate researcher Attom Data Solutions.
One out of every 1,778 homes in the two counties was dealing with a default notice, scheduled auction or bank repossession, which ranked 96th out of the 217 largest U.S. metro areas.
A year ago, one in every 402 homes in Sarasota and 778 homes in Manatee was in some stage of distress.
In Charlotte Country, 66 homes were caught in the foreclosure mill last month, a 45 percent drop over the year. One out of every 1,533 homes was dealing with foreclosure.
Statewide, foreclosure activity was down 39 percent from 2016. Its rate of one in every 1,202 homes ranked seventh in the nation.
The U.S. rate fell 23 percent, to the lowest level since November 2005.
"Foreclosure activity continued to search for a new post-recession floor in April, thanks in large part to the above-par performance of mortgages originated in the past seven years," said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at Attom. "Meanwhile, we are seeing an elevated share of repeat foreclosures on homeowners who often fell into default several years ago but have not been able to avoid foreclosure despite the housing recovery."
Foreclosure activity in Southwest Florida — once one of the nation's hot spots for mortgage distress — has steadily declined in recent years. In 2016 it dropped to its lowest level in 10 years, off 86 percent from recession-era highs and returning to what experts call a normal level of troubled homeowners.
Lis pendens filings — the first step in the foreclosure process — rose from 66 last year to 81 in April in Sarasota-Manatee. The filings remained level at 42 in Charlotte.
