Tuesday, January 17, 2012 / by Nathan Clark
Foreclosures Lowest Since 2007
Foreclosures on U.S. homes in 2011 fell to their lowest level since 2007, according to a foreclosure listing service.
RealtyTrac reported that total filings for 2011 dropped 33 percent from the year before, with 2.7 million homes affected. The steep decline, RealtyTrac revealed, was in part attributed to the slowdown in processing, as lenders and servicers recovered from the 2010 robo-signing scandal that put paperwork procedures under intense scrutiny.
Nationwide, the report said, the average foreclosure process was completed in 348 days during the fourth quarter in 2011, up from an average of 305 days in 2010.
An expected upturn in foreclosures as a result of adjustable-rate mortgages re-setting in 2011 never materialized, though. Because of low interest rates, borrowers with ARMs largely did not struggle with payments that shot up with rate resets. In fact, its likely that many payments were actually lowered.
RealtyTrac reported that total filings for 2011 dropped 33 percent from the year before, with 2.7 million homes affected. The steep decline, RealtyTrac revealed, was in part attributed to the slowdown in processing, as lenders and servicers recovered from the 2010 robo-signing scandal that put paperwork procedures under intense scrutiny.
Nationwide, the report said, the average foreclosure process was completed in 348 days during the fourth quarter in 2011, up from an average of 305 days in 2010.
An expected upturn in foreclosures as a result of adjustable-rate mortgages re-setting in 2011 never materialized, though. Because of low interest rates, borrowers with ARMs largely did not struggle with payments that shot up with rate resets. In fact, its likely that many payments were actually lowered.
