Foreclosures are down nationwide for the first half of 2014, when compared to the same time last year. But foreclosure starts are up in Ohio and Indiana. Indiana saw a 65 percent increase while Ohio went up 17 percent.
The numbers come from RealtyTrac's mid-year foreclosure report.
In a release, Michael Mahon, executive vice president/broker at HER Realtors, covering the Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton markets says, "Lenders are acting quickly regarding delinquent homeowners to determine if the property can be placed on the market for quick sale versus moving the home immediately into the foreclosure process. Low inventory levels and predicted increasing interest rates towards year end will create changes in housing affordability as we proceed into the second half of 2014, limiting options for some consumers."
Other high-level findings from the report:
- Only nine states saw overall foreclosure activity increase in the first half of 2014 compared to a year ago, including New Jersey (up 54 percent), Maryland (up 18 percent), Iowa (up 10 percent), Massachusetts (up 4 percent), and Connecticut (up 4 percent).
- States with the highest foreclosure rates in the first half of 2014 were Florida (one in 74 housing units with a foreclosure filing), Maryland (one in 107), Illinois (one in 123), New Jersey (one in 134), and Nevada (one in 138).
- A total of 47,243 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process for the first time (not including re-filings) in June, down 4 percent from the previous month and down 18 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since November 2005 — a more than 8 and a half year low.
- Foreclosure starts in June increased from the previous month in 15 states and were up from a year ago in 20 states, including Massachusetts (105 percent increase), New Jersey (70 percent increase), Nevada (66 percent increase), Indiana (65 percent increase), Oregon (50 percent increase), and Ohio (17 percent increase).
- Halfway through 2014, a total of 315,895 U.S. properties have started the foreclosure process, on pace to reach more than 630,000 for the year, which would be down from the 747,728 in 2013.
- A total of 26,889 U.S. properties were repossessed by lenders via foreclosure in June, down 5 percent from the previous month and down 24 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since June 2007 — an 84 month (7-year) low.
- Lender repossessions in June increased from the previous month in 16 states and were up from a year ago in 12 states, including Iowa (up 86 percent), Maryland (up 86 percent), New York (up 49 percent), Oregon (up 22 percent), California (up 18 percent), Illinois (up 8 percent), and New Jersey (up 5 percent).
- Halfway through the year a total of 174,691 U.S. properties have been repossessed by lenders via foreclosure, on pace to reach nearly 350,000 for the year, which would be down from the 462,970 lender repossessions in all of 2013.
- A total of 46,743 U.S. properties were scheduled for foreclosure auction (in some states these are foreclosure starts) in June, down 1 percent from the previous month and down 13 percent from a year ago to the lowest level since July 2006 — a 95-month low.
- Scheduled foreclosure auctions increased from the previous month in 12 states and were up from a year ago in 17 states, including Connecticut (up 68 percent), Pennsylvania (up 62 percent),New Jersey (up 25 percent), North Carolina (up 15 percent), Florida (up 15 percent), and New York (up 10 percent).
- For properties foreclosed in the second quarter of 2014, the average time to complete foreclosure was 577 days, up from 572 days in the previous quarter and up from 526 days in the second quarter of 2013.
- States with the longest time to foreclose were New Jersey (1,098 days), New York (930 days), Florida (925 days), Hawaii (915 days), Illinois (850 days), and Massachusetts (784 days).
