Area foreclosure actions down 39% in February

Foreclosure actions in the Fort Smith area fell more than 39% in February, but the head of the company tracking the national figures says paperwork problems may have more to do with the decline than improvement in the housing sector.

Even in Northwest Arkansas, where foreclosure filings typically top all counties in Arkansas, foreclosure actions for the first two months of 2011 are down 18.85% compared to the 2010 period.

Nationwide, foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 225,101 properties in February, down 14% compared to January and down 27% compared to February 2010. One in every 577 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month. Lenders foreclosed on 64,643 U.S. properties in February, down 17% from the previous month and down 18% from February 2010.

February foreclosure actions in Arkansas totaled 1,737, down 13.58% compared to February 2010. In Oklahoma, foreclosure actions in February totaled 1,152, down 38.98% compared to February 2010.

Foreclosure activity nationwide dropped to a 36-month low, according to RealtyTrac, with “allegations of improper foreclosure processing” clogging the system.

“While a small part of February’s decrease can be attributed to it being a short month and bad weather, the bottom line is that the industry is in the midst of a major overhaul that has severely restricted its capacity to process foreclosures,” James Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO said in a statement. “We expect to see the numbers bounce back, but that will likely take several months. And monthly volume may never return to its peak in March 2010 of more than 367,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings.”

FORT SMITH AREA DATA

The report from Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac shows that 116 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 February, down 39.5% compared to the 192 properties in the 2010 period.

February followed a January that saw a 66% increase in foreclosure actions in the Fort Smith region. For the first two months of 2011, foreclosure actions in the area total 282, down 3.42% compared to the 2010 period.

Crawford County had 36 properties in foreclosure during February, down 49.2% compared to February 2010. Sebastian County saw a 45% decrease with 50 foreclosure properties compared to 91 in February 2010.

Foreclosure actions in the region have increased four consecutive years. 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.

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES (Properties in the foreclosure process)
Crawford County
Feb. 2011: 36
Feb. 2010: 71

Franklin County
Feb. 2011: 4
Feb. 2010: 8

Logan County
Feb. 2011: 5
Feb. 2010: 5

Sebastian County
Feb. 2011: 50
Feb. 2010: 91

Leflore County
Feb. 2011: 14
Feb. 2010: 16

Sequoyah County
Feb. 2011: 7
Feb. 2010: 3

MOST FILINGS PER HOUSEHOLDS (Top 5 Arkansas counties)
Benton County
Feb. 2011: 372
Feb. 2010: 473
1 filing per 234 households

Washington County
Feb. 2011: 195
Feb. 2010: 254
1 filing per 438 households

Saline County
Feb. 2011: 93
Feb. 2010: 86
1 filing per 444 households

Craighead County
Feb. 2011: 90
Feb. 2010: 83
1 filing per 445 households

Lonoke County
Feb. 2011: 56
Feb. 2010: 91
1 filing per 468 households