Florida foreclosures fall 59 percent

In a continuing trend, foreclosure filings in Florida fell 59 percent in
August compared to the same period in 2010, according to data from
RealtyTrac released today.

There were a total of 23,569 properties with
foreclosure filings in the state last month, a rate of one foreclosure
filing for every 376 housing units. Nationally, foreclosures showed
an increase in August.

It was the second month in a row that
Florida had seen a nearly
60 percent drop in foreclosure filings.

Florida had the second-highest total of properties with foreclosure filings in the country after California.

The dramatic decreases have been attributed to the foreclosure freeze that result from the so-called robo-signing scandal in the fall of 2010.

While the year-over-year numbers still show drastic reductions, there are some signs that lenders are beginning to push more properties through the pipeline.

We are seeing the same pattern [in Florida] of lenders pushing through batches of delayed foreclosures there,” said Daren Blomquist, spokesperson for RealtyTrac. “[It’s] just at different timing than some other parts of the country.”

In fact, the number of filings actually increased 5.3 percent from July. That followed a sharp increase in real estate-owned activity last month, and an increase in August in the number of scheduled foreclosure auctions, both of which Blomquist said could point to renewed activity by lenders.

“In August, there was a 23 percent month-over-month increase in scheduled auctions, and those are probably some of the foreclosures initiated back in June and April now being scheduled for auction,” he said.