Quarterly foreclosure actions up 27.1% in Fort Smith area

The Fort Smith metro area had 464 properties enter some phase of foreclosure during the third quarter (July-September), a 27.1% increase compared to the same period in 2009.

By way of comparison, foreclosure actions in Arkansas totaled 5,753 in the third quarter, up 11.1% compared to the 2009 period. Oklahoma properties entering foreclosure during the quarter totaled 5,806, up 15.3% over the 2009 quarter. Foreclosure actions began nationwide during the quarter totaled 930,437, up 4% compared to the 2009 period.

The report  from Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac shows that 464 properties in the Fort Smith region (Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas; LeFlore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma) were placed in a foreclosure action during the third quarter, up2 7.1% over the 365 properties in the 2009 period.

Sebastian County saw a 30.8% increase with 242 foreclosure properties in the quarter compared to 185 for the 2009 period. Crawford County had a 44.3% increase with 153 foreclosure properties compared to 106 for the 2009 period.

Northwest Arkansas continues to be the most active for foreclosure actions.

Benton County had 1,155 properties in the foreclosure process during the quarter, a 4.9% decline, but enough for the county to be ranked first in Arkansas in terms of foreclosure actions per household (1 for every 75).

Washington County was second in the state with 1 property in foreclosure for every 88 households. The county had 952 properties in the foreclosure process during the quarter, down 5.6% compared to the 2009 period.

Nationwide, a record total of 102,134 bank repossessions were reported in September, the first time bank repossessions have surpassed the 100,000 mark in a single month, according to the RealtyTrac report.

“Lenders foreclosed on a record number of properties in September and in the third quarter, taking a bite out of the backlog of distressed properties where the foreclosure process was delayed by foreclosure prevention efforts over the past 20 months,” James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO, said in a statement. “We expect to see a dip in those bank repossessions — and possibly earlier stages of the foreclosure process — in the fourth quarter as several major lenders have halted foreclosure sales in some states while they review irregularities in foreclosure-processing documentation that has been called into question in recent weeks.”

As it has for the past 15 quarters, Nevada continued to document the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate in the third quarter of 2010 despite a year-over-year decline in foreclosure activity. One in every 29 Nevada housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, almost five times the national average. Nevada foreclosure activity increased nearly 1 percent from the previous quarter but was down nearly 20 percent from the third quarter of 2009. Arizona was second and Florida was third in terms of foreclosure filings per household.

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES (Properties in the foreclosure process)
Crawford County
July-Sept. 2010: 153
July-Sept. 2009: 106

Franklin County
July-Sept. 2010: 23
July-Sept. 2009: 10

Logan County
July-Sept. 2010: 20
July-Sept. 2009: 8

Sebastian County

July-Sept. 2010: 242
July-Sept. 2009: 185

Leflore County
July-Sept. 2010: 20
July-Sept. 2009: 46

Sequoyah County

July-Sept. 2010: 6
July-Sept. 2009: 10