January foreclosures up 66% in Fort Smith area

A 66% increase in foreclosure actions in the Fort Smith region during January continues a trend that saw the number of regional foreclosure actions in 2010 increase 16.5%.

Nationwide, foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 261,333 properties in January, up 1% compared to December and down 17% compared to January 2010. One in every 497 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month. Lenders foreclosed on 78,133 U.S. properties in January, up 12% from the previous month but down 11% from January 2010.

January foreclosure actions in Arkansas totaled 1,908, down 5.1% compared to January 2010. In Oklahoma, foreclosure actions in January totaled 1,685, down 4.9% compared to January 2010.

However, RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said the relative decline in foreclosure actions nationwide has more to do with paperwork issues than economic recovery.

“We’ve now seen three straight months with fewer than 300,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings, following 20 straight months where the total exceeded 300,000,” James Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO, said in a statement. “Unfortunately this is less a sign of a robust housing recovery and more a sign that lenders have become bogged down in reviewing procedures, resubmitting paperwork and formulating legal arguments related to accusations of improper foreclosure processing.”

FORT SMITH AREA DATA
The report from Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac shows that 166 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 January, up 66% compared to the 100 properties in the 2010 period.

Crawford County ranked fourth among Arkansas’ 75 counties in terms of foreclosure actions per household (1 for every 378). Sebastian County saw a 97.5% increase with 79 foreclosure properties compared to 40 in January 2010. Crawford County had a 61.5% increase with 63 foreclosure properties in January.

Foreclosure action in 2011 continues an unfortunate trend that has seen a rapidly rising number of foreclosure actions in the region. In the Fort Smith metro area, there were 1,556 properties in foreclosure action in 2010, 1,335 properties in 2009, compared to 1,084 in 2008 and just 588 in 2007.

ECONOMIC EFFECT
Jeff Collins, economist for The Compass Report and former director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, said persistent high unemployment often leads to an increase in foreclosure actions.

“Foreclosures are often a trailing economic indicator. Even though the economy may be turning around, people who have experienced a long term financial decline may eventually be forced into foreclosure. … Property owners will do all they can to hold on until they can no longer hold out,” Collins explained.

The Fort Smith metro area jobless rate reached 8.6%% in December, up considerably from the 7.9% in November and also higher than the 8.2% in December 2010. The Fort Smith metro jobless rate hit 8.1% in February 2009. Prior to that, it was February 1993 the last time the jobless rate was at or above 8% in the Fort Smith area. The Fort Smith metro unemployment rate has remained above 7.5% since May 2009.

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS DATA
Northwest Arkansas continues to be the most active for foreclosure actions. Benton County had 358 properties in the foreclosure process during January, down from the 500 in January 2010, but enough for the county to be ranked second in Arkansas in terms of foreclosure actions per household (1 for every 243).

Washington County was first in the state with 1 property in foreclosure for every 242 households. The county had 353 properties in the foreclosure process during January, down from 348 in January 2010.

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES (Properties in the foreclosure process)
Crawford County
Jan. 2011: 63
Jan. 2010: 39

Franklin County
Jan. 2011: 8
Jan. 2010: 2

Logan County
Jan. 2011: 5
Jan. 2010: 8

Sebastian County
Jan. 2011: 79
Jan. 2010: 40

Leflore County
Jan. 2011: 11
Jan. 2010: 11

Sequoyah County
Jan. 2011: 0
Jan. 2010: 0

MOST FILINGS PER HOUSEHOLDS (Top 5 Arkansas counties)
Washington County
Jan. 2011: 353
Jan. 2010: 348
1 filing per 242 households

Benton County
Jan. 2011: 358
Jan. 2010: 500
1 filing per 243 households

Saline County
Jan. 2011: 133
Jan. 2010: 78
1 filing per 311 households

Crawford County
Jan. 2011: 63
Jan. 2010: 39
1 filing per 378 households

Garland County
Jan. 2011: 120
Jan. 2010: 160
1 filing per 395 households