Area foreclosure actions up during July

Foreclosures during July in the Fort Smith region were up almost 20% despite an overall foreclosure decline in Arkansas, Oklahoma and the U.S., according to a monthly report from Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.

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 July totaled 157, up 19.84% compared to the same period in 2010.

For the first half of the year, foreclosure actions in the region totaled 803, down 5.75% compared to the 2010 period.

A little more than half of the foreclosure activity in the region during July was in Sebastian County, which had 79 properties on the list.

In Benton and Washington counties of Northwest Arkansas, properties in a foreclosure action totaled 521 during July, down 31.7% compared to July 2010.

The RealtyTrac figures show that foreclosures in Arkansas during July totaled 1,476, down 25.22% compared to July 2010. For the first half of the year, foreclosure actions in Arkansas were down 12.31% compared to the 2010 period. Oklahoma properties in a foreclosure phase during July totaled 1,787, down 10.56%. For the first half of 2011, the number of Oklahoma properties in a foreclosure was down 16.98% compared to 2010.

Nationwide, a total of 212,764 U.S. properties received foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — in July 2011, a 35% decrease compared to July 2010, and down 4% compared to June. The report also shows that one in every 611 U.S. housing units had at least one foreclosure filing during July.

During the first half of 2011, a total of 1,170,402 U.S. properties received foreclosure filings, a 25% decrease from the previous six months and a 29% decrease from the first half of 2010.

The July decrease in the U.S. marks the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year declines in foreclosure activity, according to RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio. He said the decline has more to do with “foreclosure prevention efforts” — including loan modifications, lender-borrower mediations and mortgage payment assistance for the unemployed — than with improvement in the U.S. housing sector.

“Unfortunately, the falloff in foreclosures is not based on a robust recovery in the housing market but on short-term interventions and delays that will extend the current housing market woes into 2012 and beyond,” Saccacio said in the statement. “A stabilizing economy and improving job market are the long-term keys to a housing market recovery."

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES (Properties in the foreclosure process)
Crawford County
July 2011: 38
July 2010: 37

Franklin County
July 2011: 5
July 2010: 8

Logan County
July 2011: 4
July 2010: 1

Sebastian County
July 2011: 79
July 2010: 70

Leflore County
July 2011: 13
July 2010: 15

Sequoyah County
July 2011: 18
July 2010: 0

MOST FILINGS PER HOUSEHOLDS (Top 5 Arkansas counties)
Benton County
July 2011: 323
July 2010: 418
1 filing per 269 households

Washington County
July 2011: 198
July 2010: 345
1 filing per 431 households

Greene County
July 2011: 39
July 2010: 11
1 filing per 466 households

Lonoke County
July 2011: 55
July 2010: 51
1 filing per 476 households

Crawford County
July 2011: 38
July 2010: 37
1 filing per 627 households