IRVINE, CA—RealtyTrac has released its Q1 and March 2015 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 313,487 US properties in the first quarter of 2015, down 7% from the previous quarter and down 8% from the first quarter of 2014 to the lowest quarterly total since the first quarter of 2007.

There were a total of 122,060 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in March, a 20% jump from a 104-month low February and up 4% from a year ago—the first month with a year-over-year increase in overall foreclosure activity since September 2010.

The increase in March was driven primarily by a jump in bank repossessions (REOs), which at 36,152 were up 49% from the previous month and up 25% from a year ago to a 17-month high — although still about one-third of the 102,134 REOs in September 2010, the peak month for REOs.

“The 17-month high in bank repossessions in March corresponds to a 17-month high in scheduled foreclosures auctions in October,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “The March increase is continued cleanup of distress still lingering from the previous housing crisis; not the beginning of a new crisis by any means. Some of most stubborn foreclosure cases are finally being flushed out of the foreclosure pipeline, and we would expect to see more noise in the numbers over the next few months as national foreclosure activity makes its way back to more stable patterns by the end of this year.”

Despite the spike in March, bank repossessions in the first quarter were still down from a year ago. Lenders repossessed 82,081 properties during the quarter, up 7% from the previous quarter but still down 14% from a year ago.

A total of 152,147 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process for the first time in the first quarter of 2015, down 11% from the previous quarter and down 8% from a year ago.

Other high-level findings from the report:

· States where first quarter foreclosure starts increased from a year ago, counter to the national trend, included Massachusetts, Virginia, Michigan, and Illinois.

· States where first quarter bank repossessions (REO) increased from a year ago, counter to the national trend, included Ohio, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, and Illinois.

· States with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter were Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Illinois, and New Jersey.

“Although they are dwindling, the REO opportunities are not gone yet; for the astute investors and buyers, there are still some REO and distressed opportunities in the South Florida market,” said Mike Pappas, CEO and president of the Keyes Company, covering the South Florida market. “This is as healthy a market as we have seen since the boom. We wrote $400 million in real estate contracts during the quarter, which was the second strongest March in our 89-year history with only March 2005 beating these numbers.”

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Foreclosures Sink to Lowest Level in Eight Years

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