Area foreclosure actions drop 20% in Q1 2011

The number of Fort Smith area properties in a foreclosure action during the first three months of 2011 totaled 407, down more than 20% compared to the 2010 period, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.

In Arkansas, properties in foreclosure during the first quarter totaled 5,306, down 15.04% compared to the 2010 period, and Oklahoma foreclosure actions totaled 4,313 in the quarter, down 24.14%.

Nationwide, RealtyTrac said foreclosure actions — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 681,153 U.S. properties in the first quarter, a 15% dip from the previous quarter and a 27% drop from the first quarter of 2010. The report also shows one in every 191 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 239,795 U.S. properties in March, a 7% increase from the previous month but still down 35% from March 2010, when 367,056 homeowners received a foreclosure notice – the highest monthly total in the history of the RealtyTrac monthly report since its inception in January of 2005.

However, the reporting company continues to believe that legal and paperwork issues are responsible for the declines, and not a real reduction in distressed property.

“Weak demand, declining home prices and the lack of credit availability are weighing heavily on the market, which is still facing the dual threat of a looming shadow inventory of distressed properties and the probability that foreclosure activity will begin to increase again as lenders and servicers gradually work their way through the backlog of thousands of foreclosures that have been delayed due to improperly processed paperwork,” James Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO, said in a statement.

In the Fort Smith area, Sebastian County had 192 properties in a foreclosure process during the first quarter, down 24.1% compared to the 2010 period. Properties in a foreclosure action in Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas and LeFlore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma during the first quarter totaled 407, down 20.03% compared to 509 in the 2010 period.

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.

Properties in foreclosure in the Northwest Arkansas metro area during the first quarter totaled 1,809, down 23.76% compared to the 2010 period. Foreclosure actions in the central Arkansas area during the first quarter totaled 1,693, down 3.8% compared to the 2010 period.

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES (Properties in the foreclosure process)
Crawford County
Jan.-Mar. 2011: 138
Jan.-Mar. 2010: 165

Franklin County
Jan.-Mar. 2011: 16
Jan.-Mar. 2010: 17

Logan County
Jan.-Mar. 2011: 12
Jan.-Mar. 2010: 21

Sebastian County
Jan.-Mar. 2011: 192
Jan.-Mar. 2010: 253

Leflore County
Jan.-Mar. 2011: 33
Jan.-Mar. 2010: 49

Sequoyah County
Jan.-Mar. 2011: 16
Jan.-Mar. 2010: 4