The number of foreclosed residential properties in August went down for the 21st consecutive month (on a year-over-year basis), according the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released by RealtyTrac for August 2014.
REO represents the last stage of the foreclosure process, and the number of REO properties was reported to be 26,343 for August 2014. This represented a slight increase of 2% from July, but a significant drop from August of the previous year (approximately 33%).
Interestingly, the state with the most reported REOs in August overall was Florida (5,277), which represented a 37% drop on a year-over-year basis. However, a total of 6,468 Florida properties started the foreclosure process in August, which was a whopping 74% leap up from the previous month, and was also up 24% from last year, the first year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts after 17 consecutive months of year-over-year decreases. This increase in foreclosure starts helped the Sunshine State post the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate for the 11th consecutive month. According to RealtyTrac, one in every 400 Florida housing units had a foreclosure filing in August, nearly three times the national average.
How will this affect your marketing strategies for dealing with REO properties?
