Foreclosure activity increased slightly in May nationwide due to more bank repossessions taking place, according to the latest monthly report from RealtyTrac.
During May, there were 148,054 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing—default notice, scheduled auction or bank repossession. Even though this figure is up 2% from the prior month, it is still down 28% compared to May 2012.
The Irvine, Calif.-based data providers report showed one in every 885 housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month.
Fueling the increase in foreclosure activity was bank repossessions, which had an 11% increase month-over-month, although it was still down 29% from a year ago. Furthermore, REO activity was higher on a monthly basis in 33 states, including North Carolina, Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan.
“Foreclosure activity continued to bounce back in some markets where it may have appeared the foreclosure problem had been knocked out by an aggressive combination of foreclosure prevention efforts over the past two years,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.
Specifically, Blomquist is talking about Nevada where foreclosure starts reached a 20-month high, and Maryland, where foreclosure activity increased to a 33-month high.
Across the country, foreclosure starts rose 4% from April, but fell from a year ago by 33%. RealtyTrac reported that the
For example, judicial states accounted for four of the five greatest foreclosure rates, with Florida at number one, Ohio was third, Maryland had the fourth highest rate, and South Carolina rounded out the top five.
“Still, the emerging housing recovery has strengthened most local markets enough to quickly shake off a few more blows from these nagging foreclosures,” Blomquist added.
