Arkansas foreclosure rate drops, among lowest in U.S

A new report shows Arkansas had 717 homes enter some stage of the foreclosure process during the third quarter of 2019, a drop of 23.3% from the same three-month period of 2018.

The September 2019 and Q3 Foreclosure Market Report was produced by California-based Attom Data Solutions, which tracks national housing and foreclosure data.

A home goes into the foreclosure process when the owner can’t pay the mortgage. Banks begin the foreclosure process by filing a notice of a foreclosure hearing that will decide whether a home is sold at auction. A home is considered “distressed” when it’s under any stage of foreclosure.

Arkansas’ total equals one out of every 1,888 homes (0.05%) in foreclosure in the July-September quarter, which ranked the state No. 41 in the U.S.

Nationwide, one in every 946 properties (0.1%) had a foreclosure filing in the third quarter this year. States with the highest foreclosure rates in the period were Delaware (one in every 415 housing units; 0.24%); New Jersey (one in every 436; 0.22%) and Maryland (one in every 500; 0.2%).

Among 220 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) analyzed in the report, the Northwest Arkansas metro — defined as Benton, Washington and Madison counties in Arkansas and McDonald County in Missouri — had just 68 homes in some stage of foreclosure in the third quarter, 15% lower than the number a year ago (80).

That total equals one out of 3,075 homes (0.03%) in some stage of the foreclosure process in the third quarter. That ranks the region No. 209 out of the top 220 metro regions.

Nationally, according to Attom, 143,105 properties entered the foreclosure process in the third quarter, down 19% from the year before and the lowest level since the second quarter of 2005.