40
ARE 2020'S
HOUSING
MARKET
TRENDS HERE
TO STAY?
Nationwide foreclosure activity
plummeted in 2020 to record depths,
according to new statistics released by
ATTOM Data Solutions.
Last year saw foreclosure filings—covering
default notices, scheduled auctions, and
bank repossessions—on 214,323 residential
properties in 2020, a 57% decline from 2019
and a 93% tumble from the 2010 peak of
nearly 2.9 million properties. e 2020 figures
represented the lowest level since ATTOM
began tracking these numbers in 2005.
e 2020 foreclosure filings total
encompassed only 0.16% of all housing units,
compared to 0.36% in 2019 and 2.23% in the
2010 peak year.
However, last year ended with something
of a foreclosure filing uptick: ATTOM
Data Solutions also reported there were
10,876 properties with foreclosure filings in
December, an 8% increase from November—
but also an 80% drop from December 2019.
"e government's moratoria have
effectively stopped foreclosure activity
on everything but vacant and abandoned
properties," said Rick Sharga, EVP of
RealtyTrac, an ATTOM Data Solutions
company. "ere is a backlog of foreclosures
building up loans that were in foreclosure
prior to the moratoria; loans that would
have defaulted under normal circumstances;
and loans whose borrowers are in financial
distress due to the pandemic. While it's still
highly unlikely that we'll see another wave of
foreclosures like the one we had during the
Great Recession, we really won't know how
big that backlog is until after the government
programs expire."
As 2020 closed, ATTOM Data Solutions
determined that lenders repossessed 50,238
properties through foreclosure (REO), a 65%
year-over-year decline. Lenders started the
foreclosure process on 131,372 properties in
2020, down 61% from 2019.
e states with the highest foreclosure
rates in 2020 were Delaware (0.33% of
housing units with a foreclosure filing); New
Jersey (0.31%); Illinois (0.30%); Maryland
(0.26%); and South Carolina (0.24%).
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