from ForeclosurePulse:
U.S. foreclosure activity hit another record-high level in April, thanks to a slight increase from the previous month, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosure filings were reported on 342,038 properties during the month, up less than 1 percent from March and up 32 percent from April 2008.
Most of the increase came in the early stages of foreclosure -- defaults and auctions -- which together increased about 3 percent from the previous month and 47 percent from April 2008. Meanwhile REOs were down nearly 11 percent from the previous month and down nearly 9 percent from April 2008. This is not a one-month phenomenon. REOs have been decreasing fairly consistently since hitting a peak in August 2008. Defaults and auctions have been steadily increasing since hitting a low in November 2008.
So what's going on with the diverging trends?
“Total foreclosure activity in April ended up slightly above the previous month, once again hitting a record-high level,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Much of this activity is at the initial stages of foreclosure – the default and auction stages – while bank repossessions, or REOs, were down on a monthly and annual basis to their lowest level since March 2008. This suggests that many lenders and servicers are beginning foreclosure proceedings on delinquent loans that had been delayed by legislative and industry moratoria. It’s likely that we’ll see a corresponding spike in REOs as these loans move through the foreclosure process over the next few months.”
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