Foreclosure activity down in area

Officials with Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac say procedural problems and not an improving economy are at the root of a 29% decline in foreclosure activity around the nation during the first half of 2011.

The number of properties in some phase of foreclosure in the Fort Smith region (Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas; LeFlore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma) during the first half of the year totaled 803, down 5.75% compared to the same period in 2010.

The RealtyTrac figures show that foreclosures in Arkansas during the Jan.-June 2011 period totaled 9,727, down 12.31% compared to the 2010 period. Oklahoma properties in a foreclosure phase during the first half of the year totaled 8,586, down 16.98%.

Nationwide, a total of 1,170,402 U.S. properties received foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — in the first six months of 2011, a 25% decrease from the previous six months and a 29% decrease from the first half of 2010. The report also shows that 0.90% of all U.S. housing units (one in 111) had at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of the year.

“It would be nice to report that foreclosure activity is dropping as a result of improvements in the economy or the housing market,” James Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO, said in the statement. “Unfortunately, with unemployment rates inching back up, consumer confidence weak and home sales and prices continuing to languish, this doesn’t appear to be the case.”

U.S. properties foreclosed in the second quarter were in the foreclosure process an average of 318 days from the initial foreclosure notice to the completed foreclosure, up from a revised 298 days in the first quarter and up from 277 days in the second quarter of 2010, according to RealtyTrac.

The foreclosure process took the longest in New York, at 966 days on average for properties foreclosed in the second quarter, followed by New Jersey at 944 days and Florida at 676 days. Texas posted the shortest foreclosure timeline, at 92 days for properties foreclosed in the second quarter, followed by Virginia at 106 days.

“Processing and procedural delays are pushing foreclosures further and further out – we estimate that as many as 1 million foreclosure actions that should have taken place in 2011 will now happen in 2012, or perhaps even later,” Saccacio said. “This casts an ominous shadow over the housing market, where recovery is unlikely to happen until the current and forthcoming inventory of distressed properties can be whittled down to a manageable number.”

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES (Properties in the foreclosure process)
Crawford County
Jan.-June 2011: 234
Jan.-June 2010: 259

Franklin County
Jan.-June 2011: 30
Jan.-June 2010: 32

Logan County
Jan.-June 2011: 25
Jan.-June 2010: 41

Sebastian County
Jan.-June 2011: 376
Jan.-June 2010: 418

Leflore County
Jan.-June 2011: 99
Jan.-June 2010: 93

Sequoyah County
Jan.-June 2011: 39
Jan.-June 2010: 9