Fort Smith area foreclosure activity up 36% in May

Foreclosure activity in the Fort Smith area continues to increase compared to 2009, according to the May report from Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac which shows 158 area properties in some form of foreclosure action.

Properties in some level of foreclosure in the Fort Smith metro area (Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas; Leflore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma) during May totaled 158, up 36.2% compared to May 2009.

Crawford County saw May foreclosure activity on 68 properties, up considerably over the 28 in May 2009. During the first quarter of 2010, Crawford County had 165 properties in foreclosure action, up 87.5% compared to the 2009 period. Sebastian County had 253 properties in foreclosure action in the first quarter, up 76.9% compared to the 2009 period.

Nationwide, RealtyTrac reports that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 322,920 properties in May, a 3% decline compared to May 2009. One in every 400 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

“The numbers in May continued and confirmed the trends we noticed in April: overall foreclosure activity leveling off while lenders work through the backlog of distressed properties that have built up over the past 20 months,” RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said in a statement. “Defaults and scheduled auctions combined increased by 28 percent from 2007 to 2008 and another 32 percent from 2008 to 2009 — creating a build-up of delayed bank repossessions. Lenders appear to be ramping up the pace of completing those forestalled foreclosures even while the inflow of delinquencies into the foreclosure process has slowed.”

Another piece of good news for the U.S. housing sector was a 22% year-over-year decline in the number of U.S. properties (96,462) receiving default notices in May.

“It was the fewest default notices since November 2008 and down 32 percent from the peak of 142,064 default notices in April 2009,” RealtyTrac noted in the report.

Arkansas had 2,166 properties in a foreclosure action in May, up 29.6% compared to May 2009. Oklahoma had 1,811 properties in a foreclosure action in the quarter, up 106.4% compared to the 2009 period. (RealtyTrac notes that Oklahoma numbers may reflect improvements in collection methods in that state.)

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES (Properties in the foreclosure process)
Crawford County
May 2010: 68
May 2009: 28

Franklin County
May 2010: 7
May 2009: 8

Logan County
May 2010: 9
May 2009: 4

Sebastian County
May 2010: 65
May 2009: 63

Leflore County
May 2010: 7
May 2009: 13

Sequoyah County
May 2010: 2
May 2009: 0

MOST FILINGS PER HOUSEHOLDS (Top 5 Arkansas counties)
Benton County
May 2010: 395
May 2009: 445
1 filing per 219 households

Washington County
May 2010: 361
May 2009: 273
1 filing per 231 households

Poinsett County
May 2010: 34
May 2009: 13
1 filing per 340 households

Crawford County
May 2010: 68
May 2009: 28
1 filing per 347 households

Saline County
May 2010: 111
May 2009: 54
1 filing per 367 households