Foreclosure activity is at an 18-month high, according to an April RealtyTrac report. There were foreclosure filings on a reported 125,875 properties in April — 3% more from the previous month and 9% more from a year ago.
The rate of foreclosure activity was one in every 1,049 housing units.
Bank repossessions as a result of a foreclosure were the biggest driver of the increase in activity, the report said. There were 45,168 for the month of April — 25% more than the previous month's and twice the number from the same time last year.
The number of properties becoming real estate owned increased on a year-over-year basis for the second consecutive month. They are now at a 27-month high.
The jump in April, however, is still 56% below the September 2013 peak of 102,134 REO.
"The REO increase in April was foreshadowed by a 23-month high in scheduled foreclosure auctions in October 2014," said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. "Many of those scheduled auctions are now taking place, and properties are going back to the foreclosing lender."
The average price paid for an REO in the first quarter was 87% of the properties' average estimated market value at the time of sale.
The price-to-value ratio was higher in other markets; 100% in San Diego and Charlotte, N.C., and 97% in San Francisco, Bakersfield, Calif., and Portland, Ore. The lowest were 62% in Stroudsburg, Pa., 66% in Akron, Ohio, 70% in Atlanta and Cleveland, and 74% in Baltimore.
