Click for interactive version of foreclosure heatmap (source: RealtyTrac)Foreclosure filings fell 5 percent month-over-month in April to the lowest level since July 2007, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released today by RealtyTrac. The 188,780 properties on which default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were reported in April marks a 14 percent decline from April 2011. [more]

Source: RealtyTrac

Though the New York-metropolitan area hasn’t shouldered the brunt of the foreclosure crisis, the epidemic is quickly spreading to the city and its suburbs, according to RealtyTrac’s first-quarter 2012 foreclosure market report released today. With foreclosures present in just one out of every 981 homes in New York City, Northern New Jersey and Long Island, the region had the 32nd lowest first quarter foreclosure rate among the 212 metropolitan areas in the U.S. with a population that exceeds 200,000. [more]

Source: RealtyTrac

National foreclosure filings declined in the first quarter to their lowest level in more than four years, according to a RealtyTrac report released today, and foreclosures in New York are down in the last year but have trended upwards of late. Default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were filed for 572,928 properties in the quarter, down 16 percent from the prior-year quarter. It’s the fewest filings recorded since the fourth quarter of 2007. [more]

(source: RealtyTrac)

Sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure accounted for 23 percent of all residential transactions in the U.S. in 2011, according to a fourth-quarter report released today by RealtyTrac. In the fourth quarter of 2011, 24 percent of all residential sales were on foreclosed properties, up from 20 percent the previous quarter and down from 26 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010. [more]

Source: RealtyTrac (click to enlarge)

Properties in some stage of foreclosure accounted for one-fifth of all residential home sales in the U.S. during last year’s third quarter, according to a report released today by RealtyTrac. That’s down from 22 percent of all sales during the second quarter, and 30 percent of all sales during the prior-year quarter. RealtyTrac attributes the declining number to the robo-signing scandal, but notes it’s still at a historically high level compared to the pre-recession norm of less than 5 percent.

“That trend is not too surprising given the continued ambiguity surrounding proper foreclosure procedures — and the ripple effect that has on sales of foreclosed properties that might have been improperly foreclosed,” said RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore. [more]

A map of the top 100 foreclosure rates by zip code (source: RealtyTrac via CNN)

Think the foreclosure crisis is taking its toll on New York City housing? Imagine what it’s doing out west.

According to an analysis of the 100 U.S. zip codes hit hardest by foreclosures prepared for CNN by RealtyTrac, 82 of the worst hit neighborhoods are in Western states, with Nevada and California together comprising 66 of them. Meanwhile not a single zip code in the entire Northeast claims a spot on the list. [more]

December 2011 foreclosure filings. See interactive map after the jumpNational foreclosure filings plummeted in 2011 to their lowest level since 2007, according to a report released today by RealtyTrac. However, the correlation between the data and the aftermath of the robo-signing controversy are clear, as the average U.S. foreclosure now takes 348 days to process, according to the report, and 1,019 days in New York.

About 1.9 million U.S. properties received foreclosure filings for the year, down 34 percent from 2010. One out of 69 housing units, or 1.45 percent had at least one foreclosure filing for the year, down from 2.23 percent in 2010. Each figure marks the lowest recorded since 2007. [more]

Seasonal factors depressed new national foreclosure filings in November, according to a report released today by RealtyTrac, but storm clouds continue to gather for a forthcoming downpour of activity.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 224,394 U.S. properties, or one in every 579 homes, in November, 3 percent fewer than were filed in October and 14 percent fewer than the number filed in November 2010. However, that represents a step back from October, which had 31 percent fewer filings on a year-over-year basis.

“November’s numbers suggest a new set of incoming foreclosure waves,” RealtyTrac co-founder James Saccacio said in a statement, “many of which may roll into the market as REOs or short sales sometime early next year … Overall foreclosure activity is down 14 percent from a year ago, the smallest annual decrease over the past 12 months.”

New default notices were filed for 71,730 properties in November, an 8 percent decrease from the prior month, and a 9 percent fall from November a year ago.

Foreclosure auctions jumped 13 percent since October, but fell 17 percent from the previous year, and lenders repossessed 56,124 properties, a 17 percent decrease on both month-over-month and year-over-year bases.

Just one in every 1,587 New York State homes had foreclosure filings, the eighth lowest rate in the country. Compare that to Nevada, where one in every 175 properties were hit with foreclosures, the highest rate in the nation. California and Arizona rounded out the top three in terms of foreclosure rate, while North Dakota had the smallest rate.

New York foreclosures fell 3.2 percent from October and 42.9 percent from November 2010, the 16th largest year-over-year decline in the nation. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

Occupy Wall Street protesters around the country are joining forces with housing advocates to protest fraudulent foreclosures today, NY1 reported. In New York, they will be marching through the East New York section of Brooklyn, an area especially hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis.

The protestors will assemble later today at the closely-guarded location of a pre-selected foreclosed home, which has been occupied overnight, according to news reports.

“This action is part of a national kick-off for a new frontier for the occupy movement: the liberation of vacant bank-owned homes for those in need, and the defense of families under threat of foreclosure and eviction,” Occupy Wall Street said in a statement. [more]

People living in the country’s priciest and glitziest zip codes haven’t escaped the foreclosure crisis, according to recent data cited by Forbes, with northern North Jersey and southern New York having the largest total number of pricey neighborhoods riddled by foreclosures in the nation. Among these pricey neighborhoods are Great Neck and Old Wesbury.

Loss of income may be the most common reason for foreclosures in pricey neighborhoods but experts say they’re seeing a rise in the number of strategic foreclosures on that end of the market.

[more]