35
FORECLOSURES
INCREASE BUT
REMAIN LOW
COMPARED TO
LAST YEAR
Across the country, just 11,281 residential
properties were in foreclosure in February,
according to property data researchers at
ATTOM Data Solutions, who just released
the February 2021 U.S. Foreclosure Market
Report. e number is up 16% from a month
ago but down 77% from last year.
"Extensions to the Federal Government's
foreclosure moratorium and CARES Act
mortgage forbearance program continue to
keep foreclosure activity historically low," said
Rick Sharga, EVP of RealtyTrac, an ATTOM
Data Solutions company. "ese government
actions, and the efforts of lenders and mortgage
servicing companies, have helped millions
of homeowners avoid foreclosure during a
year-long global pandemic and a recession that
resulted in 22 million lost jobs."
e numbers show that one in every 12,182
U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing in
February 2021. Utah (one in 3,883), Delaware
(one in 5,219), Florida (one in 6,232), Illinois
(one in 6,336), and Louisiana (one in every
7,923 housing units) topped the list of states
with the highest foreclosure rates.
Foreclosure starts increased in 29 states in
February. at's up 15% from last month but
down 78% from the previous year.
"e government's moratorium bans
foreclosures on government-backed loans for
homeowners, and borrowers in the forbearance
program are also protected from foreclosure
actions," Sharga noted. "But loans on
commercial properties, investment properties,
and properties that are vacant and abandoned
do not always have the same protections. is
could be why we're seeing a slight increase
in foreclosure starts despite the government
programs."
Lenders repossessed 1,545 U.S. properties
through completed foreclosures (REOs) in
February, an 8% increase from last month but
still down 85% from last year.
Counter to the national trend, those states
that saw a decline in completed foreclosures
from last month, included Indiana, Colorado,
South Dakota, Utah, and Alabama.
For its monthly report, which can be found
in full at Attom.com, ATTOM collects data
from more than 3,000 counties nationwide, and
those counties account for more than 99% of
the U.S. population.
