Area foreclosure actions dip in May

The number of Fort Smith regional properties in a foreclosure action fell 6.32% in May courtesy of more than 32% decline in Crawford County foreclosure actions.

In Arkansas, properties in foreclosure during May totaled 1,445, down from the 2,166 in May 2010, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. Oklahoma foreclosure actions totaled 2,010 in May, up from the 1,811 in May 2010.

Nationwide, RealtyTrac said foreclosure actions — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 214,927 U.S. properties in May, down 2% from April and a 33.4% dip from May 2010. The report also shows one in every 605 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

“Foreclosure processing delays continue to mask the true face of the foreclosure situation, although there were some clues in the May numbers of what lies behind that mask,” James Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO, said in a statement.

Saccacio outlined two of the “clues.”

“First, activity spiked in May for various stages of the foreclosure process in some states, a pattern that has occurred in several states over the past few months,” he explained.

He said banks are “unevenly pushing batches of bad loans through foreclosure as they overhaul their paperwork and documentation procedures” and attempt to determine how various markets will be able to absorb foreclosed inventory.
 
“Second, while the inventory of properties in the foreclosure process has declined steadily over the past six months — thanks in large part to 16 consecutive months of year-over-year declines in new default notices — the inventory of unsold bank-owned REOs increased in April and May even as new REO activity slowed in both of those months,” Saccacio said.

FORT SMITH REGION

The report from RealtyTrac shows that 168 properties in the Fort Smith region (Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas; LeFlore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma) were placed in a foreclosure action during May, down 6.32% compared to the 158 properties in the 2010 period.

The number of Fort Smith area properties in a foreclosure action during May totaled 68, up slightly over the 65 in May 2010. Crawford County had 46 properties in foreclosure during May, down 32.35% compared to May 2010.

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.

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES (Properties in the foreclosure process)
Crawford County
May 2011: 46
May 2010: 68

Franklin County
May 2011: 5
May 2010: 7

Logan County
May 2011: 8
May 2010: 9

Sebastian County
May 2011: 68
May 2010: 65

Leflore County
May 2011: 26
May 2010: 7

Sequoyah County
May 2011: 15
May 2010: 2