IRVINE, CA—Foreclosure filings reached their lowest level in 10 years in 2016, ATTOM Data Solutions said Thursday. The year just past also saw the lowest annual foreclosure rate nationwide since 2006.

There were foreclosure filings on 933,045 US properties last year, down 14% from the year prior. That's the lowest number of filings since '06, when there were 717,522 US properties with foreclosure filings, including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. Last year saw a foreclosure rate of 0.70%, compared to 0.58% a decade earlier.

The report also includes new data for December, when there were 85,919 US properties with foreclosure filings. That's down 1% from the previous month and represents a year-over-decline of 17%, making December the 15th consecutive month with a Y-O-Y decrease in foreclosure activity.

“The national foreclosure rate stayed within an historically normal range for the third consecutive year in '16, even as banks continued to clear out legacy foreclosures from the last housing bubble, particularly in the final quarter of the year,” says ATTOM SVP Daren Blomquist. “Foreclosures completed in the fourth quarter had been in the foreclosure process 803 days on average,” representing a 29% increase from Q3.

The hefty quarterly gain, Blomquist adds, indicates that “banks pushed through significant numbers of legacy foreclosures during the quarter. Despite that push, we still show that more than half of all active foreclosures nationwide are on loans originated between 2004 and 2008, with a much higher share of legacy foreclosures in some markets.”

The actual tally nationwide is 55%, with the District of Columbia home to the highest percentage at 76%. New Jersey represented the highest statewide number with 32,279 legacy foreclosures, while among counties, Nassau County, NY led the way with 8,632.

Counter to the national trend, 12 states and the District of Columbia posted an increase in overall foreclosure activity in 2016 compared to 2015. They included Delaware, up 45%; Rhode Island, up 29%; Massachusetts and Connecticut, each up 21%; and Hawaii, up 20%.

Among 216 metropolitan areas with a population of at least 200,000, 53 of them, or 25%, posted Y-O-Y increases in foreclosure activity last year. At the top of the list was Provo-Orem, UT, up 30%; followed by Honolulu, 29%; Lynchburg, VA, 29%; Springfield, MA, 29%; and Tucson, AZ, 27%.

A total of 478,857 US residential properties started down the foreclosure road in '16. That's off 16% from the year prior and 78% from the peak of 2,139,005 foreclosure starts in 2009, and represents the lowest level since ATTOM began tracking foreclosure starts a decade ago.

That song said, 15 states and the District of Columbia posted Y-O-Y increases in foreclosure starts over the course of last year. They included Delaware, up 37%; Connecticut, up 35%; Maine up 30%; Rhode Island, 26%; Arizona, up 15%; and Massachusetts, up 12%.

Similarly, bank REOs reached a 10-year low last year. A total of 379,437 US properties were repossessed by lenders during '16, a Y-O-Y drop of 16% and down 64% from the peak of 1,050,500 REOs in 2010 . Counter to the national trend, though, 21 states and the District of Columbia posted a Y-O-Y increase in REOs in 2016, led by Massachusetts with a 61% rise.

Instant Insights /

Home Foreclosures Reach 10-Year Low

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