RealtyTrac Says U.S. Foreclosure Filings Fall In November

(RTTNews) - RealtyTrac, a source for comprehensive housing data, Thursday said foreclosure filings were reported on 112,498 U.S. properties in November, a decrease of 9 percent from the previous month and down 1 percent from last year.

Releasing its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for November, the market researcher said this was the 50th consecutive month with a year-over-year decrease in overall foreclosure activity. The report also showed one in every 1,170 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month. Foreclosure filings include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.

A total of 55,906 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in November, a decrease of 1 percent from the previous month but up 6 percent from a year ago. 50,102 U.S. properties were scheduled for foreclosure auction during the month, down 16 percent from an 18-month high in the previous month but up 5 percent from last year.

Lenders repossessed 25,249 properties in November, down 10 percent from October and a drop of 17 percent from a year ago. This marked November the 24th consecutive month with year-over-year decreases.

Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said, "The housing market is struggling to find the new normal when it comes to a tolerable level of foreclosure activity in this post-Great Recession economy. Finding that new normal requires striking a balance between too much loan risk, which would result in another housing meltdown, and too little risk, which could result in a stunted recovery."