Foreclosure Activity Declines in November

U.S. foreclosure filings, including default notices, foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions, fell 8 percent in November from the previous month, marking the fourth consecutive month of declines, according to the the latest data from Realty Trac.However, foreclosure filings were still up 18 percent compared to a year ago, and a total of 306,627 U.S. housing units, or one in every 417, received a foreclosure filing in November. Foreclosure activity now has declined 15 percent from the peak in July 2009.

Nevada, which posted a double-digit percentage drop in foreclosure activity for the second straight month, still had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate with one in every 119 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. Florida had the second highest foreclosure rate with one in every 165 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing and California was third with one in every 180 units receiving a foreclosure filing.

“Loan modifications and other foreclosure prevention efforts, along with the recently extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit, are keeping a lid on the most visible symptoms of the nation’s ailing housing market — foreclosures and home value depreciation,” says RealtyTrac’s CEO James J. Saccacio. “This is providing a welcome respite for the real estate industry, but a full recovery will only come when unemployment recedes to normal, healthy levels and when availability of credit reaches a more rational balance between the extremes of the past few years.”