IRVINE, CA—Foreclosure filings in April reached their lowest levels since November 2005, ATTOM Data Solutions said Thursday. The month saw filings on 77,049 US residential properties, down 7% from March and 23% year over year.

ATTOM SVP Daren Blomquist attributes foreclosure activity's “search for a new post-recession floor” largely to “the above-par performance of mortgages originated in the past seven years. Meanwhile, we are seeing an elevated share of repeat foreclosures on homeowners who often fell into default several years ago but have not been able to avoid foreclosure despite the housing recovery.”

Fifty-four percent of April's foreclosure filings in the five boroughs of New York City were repeats, with rates of 20% or more in four other markets analyzed by ATTOM: Los Angeles, Miami-Dade County, Maricopa County in Arizona and Essex County in New Jersey. ATTOM defines a repeat foreclosure start as one filed on a property address/owner last name combination that matches a previous start on the same address/name combination in the past 10 years.

Nationwide, one in every 1,723 housing units had a foreclosure filing in April. That rate increases to one in 562 for New Jersey, with lower but still elevated numbers for Delaware (one in every 706 housing units), Maryland (one in 776), Connecticut (one in 956); and Illinois (one in 1,083). The Garden State is also home to the metro area with the highest foreclosure rate: Atlantic City, with one foreclosure filing in every 237 housing units.

Counter to the national trends, the District of Columbia and a number of states posted Y-O-Y increases in foreclosure starts and completions. For starts, Connecticut posted a 40% annual increase, followed by Massachusetts (up 34%), Alabama (up 10%); Missouri (up 10%); Oregon (up 7%); and Illinois (up 6%). Fifteen states, led by New Jersey with a 45% increase, saw higher REO levels last month than in the year-ago period.

Instant Insights /

Foreclosures Drop 23% From a Year Ago

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