U.S. foreclosures up in August

Foreclosure filings in August increased 7 percent in August, but were
still down nearly 33 percent from August 2010, according to national data
released by RealtyTrac today. There were foreclosure filings on 228,098 U.S. properties in August, or about one in 570 housing units.

In New York state, there were 2,102 foreclosures, or one in every 3814
units.

First-time default notices were at a nine-month high and had their
biggest month-over-month increase — 33 percent — since August 2007, but were still down 18 percent from August 2010 and 44 percent from the monthly peak of 142,064 default notices in April
2009.

Default notices increased more than 40 percent on a month-over-month
basis in several states, including New Jersey (42 percent), Indiana
(46 percent) and California (55 percent), but were still down from a
year ago in all of those states.

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“The big increase in new foreclosure actions may be a signal that
lenders are starting to push through some of the foreclosures delayed
by robo-signing and other documentation problems,” said James
Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac. “It also foreshadows
more bank repossessions in the coming months as these new foreclosures
make their way through the process.”

Foreclosure auctions decreased 43 percent year-over-year, and dropped 1 percent from a month prior.

Foreclosure auctions
hit a 37-month low in August and were 47 percent below the monthly
peak of 158,105 scheduled auctions in March 2010.

Repossessions saw a 32 percent decrease from August 2010 and a 4 percent
decrease from the previous month. The real estate owned by bank total in August marked a
six-month low and was 37 percent below the monthly peak of 102,134
bank repossessions in September 2010. — Miranda Neubauer