RealtyTrac: 2013 U.S. Foreclosure Activity Declines 26%

(RTTNews) - RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for real estate data, , Thursday reported that foreclosure activity in the U.S. declined 26 percent in the year 2013, and was the lowest annual total since 2007.

In its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, the agency noted that foreclosure filings, i.e., default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were reported on about 1.36 million U.S. properties in 2013, down 26 percent from 2012 and down 53 percent from the peak period of 2010.

The number of total properties with foreclosure filings in 2013 was the lowest annual total since 2007, when there were 1.3 million properties with foreclosure filings.

The report also showed that 1.04 percent of U.S. housing units, or one in every 96, had at least one foreclosure filing during the year, down from 1.39 percent of housing units in 2012.

Total foreclosure activity in 2013 increased in 10 states, with Maryland topping with 117 percent increase. States with the highest foreclosure rates in the year were Florida, Nevada, Illinois, Maryland , and Ohio.

A total of 747,728 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in 2013, down 33 percent from 2012. Foreclosure starts decreased in 2013 compared to 2012 in 37 states.

The average estimated value of a property receiving a foreclosure filing in the year was $191,693, up 1 percent from the average value in 2012.

Meanwhile, the scheduled foreclosure auctions in judicial states increased 13 percent from, and was at the highest level since 2010. As per the report, NFS were the only foreclosure document type to post an increase nationwide among the five tracked by RealtyTrac.

Bank repossessions or REO decreased 31% in the year with decline in in 39 states. A total of 462,970 U.S. properties were repossessed by lenders in 2013.

Noting that millions are still living in the shadow of the massive foreclosure crisis that the country experienced over the past eight years, Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said, "But the shadow cast by the foreclosure crisis is shrinking as fewer distressed properties enter foreclosure and properties already in foreclosure are poised to exit in greater numbers in 2014 given the greater numbers of scheduled foreclosure auctions in 2013 in judicial states -- which account for the bulk of U.S. foreclosure inventory."

Blomquist added that there is an unprecedented demand from institutional investors willing to pay with cash to buy at the foreclosure auction.