New foreclosures filings increased on a month-over-month basis, as did total filings. But completed foreclosures fell to the lowest level in more than six years.
U.S. mortgage servicers initiated foreclosures on around 55,710 delinquent home loans during March, worsening from the 51,842 foreclosure starts a month earlier.
On a quarterly basis, new foreclosure filings retreated 21 percent in the first three months of this year from the same three-month period in 2013.
March 2014’s activity brought year-to-date foreclosure starts to 164,811.
The foreclosure statistics are based on a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac, which said it collected data from more than 2,200 U.S. counties.
In all, 117,485 residential properties faced some sort of foreclosure filing last month, worsening from 112,498 filings previously reported for February.
But activity slowed from March 2013, when the there were 152,500 filings. It was the 42nd month in a row that the year-over-year total was down.
More filings were made on properties in Florida last month than any other state:Â 22,056. Florida activity subsided from 24,181 in February.
California’s 14,484 March filings followed, worsening from 13,053 the prior month.
After that was Illinois, where 7,759 filings were made, then 7,731 in Ohio and 5,001 in Pennsylvania.
Just three filings were made in North Dakota, the fewest of any state.
During the first three months of this year, servicers have made filings on 341,670 properties.
“Now that the foreclosure deluge has dried up, banks are turning their attention back to properties that have been sitting in foreclosure limbo for some time,” RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said in the report. “This is most evident in judicial foreclosure states that were more likely to have impediments in the foreclosure process, but there are also signs of this catch-up trend happening in some non-judicial states like California, where an increasing number of judicial foreclosure filings boosted foreclosure starts in the first quarter.”
The U.S. foreclosure rate was one filing for each 1,121 housing units, deteriorating from one-in-1,170 in February. But the rate was better than March 2013’s one filing for every 859 homes.
Through March 31, the foreclosure rate was one filing for each 385 properties.
Florida had a one-in-407 rate last month, worse than any other state but better than one-in-372 in February. Pushing the Sunshine State to the top were the Miami and Tampa metropolitan areas, which had the highest foreclosure rates in the country.
Maryland’s one-in-527 was second-worst last month, followed by Indiana’s one-in-656, Ohio’s one-in-663 and Illinois’ one-in-682.
With only one filing for each 106,489 housing units, North Dakota had the most favorable foreclosure rate.
The 28,840 U.S. foreclosures that were completed last month was the fewest in 80 months, RealtyTrac said. Repossessions declined from 30,307 a month earlier and 43,597 a year earlier.
March activity brought the year-to-date total to 95,610.
Real-estate-owned filings were highest in Florida at 6,258. After that were 2,814 in California, then 2,014 in Illinois, 1,332 in Georgia and 1,203 in Pennsylvania.
Nebraska was at the bottom of the list with just two completed foreclosures last month.
Blomquist noted that banks will now be better able to dedicate more of their resources to the lingering inventory of nearly a half-million REOs.
The time to liquidate foreclosures climbed to 509 days in the first quarter from 382 days in the same three-month period during 2013.
It took 1,299 days in Massachusetts from when the average foreclosure started to sell the property. New York’s 854 days was second-worst, then New Jersey’s 830 days, Ohio’s 790 days and Florida’s 720 days.
