RealtyTrac® Foreclosure Activity Decreases 10 Percent in February From January; Lowest Level in More Than 7 Years

Daren Blomquist

IRVINE, CA — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for February 2014, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 112,498 U.S. properties in February, a 10 percent decrease from January and down 27 percent from February 2013 to the lowest monthly total since December 2006 — a more than seven-year low.

  

RealtyTrac also included updated information on the number of owner-vacated properties in the foreclosure process as part of the report.

As of the first quarter of 2014, a total of 152,033 U.S. properties in the foreclosure process (excluding bank-owned properties) had been vacated by the distressed homeowner, representing 21 percent of all properties in the foreclosure process.

These owner-vacated foreclosures — sometimes called zombie foreclosures — had been in the foreclosure process an average of 1,031 days.

“Cold weather and a short month certainly contributed to a seasonal drop in foreclosure activity in February, but the reality is that new activity is no longer the biggest threat to the housing market when it comes to foreclosures,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

“The biggest threat from foreclosures going forward is properties that have been lingering in the foreclosure process for years, many of them vacant with neither the distressed homeowner or the foreclosing lender taking responsibility for maintenance and upkeep of the home — or at the very least facilitating a sale to a new homeowner more likely to perform needed upkeep and maintenance.”

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Jennifer von Pohlmann

PR Manager

Office: 949.502.8300 ext 139

jennifer.vonpohlmann@realtytrac.com