Regional foreclosure activity declines in first quarter
by April 16, 2009 12:37 pm 54 views
First-quarter foreclosure actions in Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties fell 15.5% when compared to the same period in 2008, according to a report released Thursday by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.
The four counties had 250 properties in some form of foreclosure action in the first quarter of 2009, down from the 296 reported in the first quarter of 2008. Crawford County had 88 properties in foreclosure action, up from the 73 in the first quarter of 2008. It was the only county of the four to post an increase.
The number of properties facing foreclosure action during 2008 in the Fort Smith metro area (Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas; Le Flore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma) was 1,084, up 84% over the 588 regional properties in 2007.
Arkansas had 4,581 properties in the foreclosure process in the first quarter, up 22% over the 3,752 properties in the first quarter of 2008.
Nationwide, foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 803,489 properties in the first quarter, an increase of nearly 24% from the first quarter of 2008. One in every 159 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, according to the RealtyTrac report.
With 230,915 properties receiving foreclosure filings during the quarter, California accounted for nearly 29% of the nation’s total.
“In the month of March we saw a record level of foreclosure activity — the number of households that received a foreclosure filing was more than 12% higher than the next highest month on record. Since much of this activity was in new foreclosure actions, it suggests that many lenders and servicers were holding off on executing foreclosures due to industry moratoria and legislative delays,” James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO, said in the statement.
Regional foreclosure figures (info provided by RealtyTrac):
Sebastian County
Q1 2009: 143
Q1 2008: 197
Q4 2008: 160
Crawford County
Q1 2009: 88
Q1 2008: 73
Q4 2008: 105
Logan County
Q1 2009: 12
Q1 2008: 12
Q4 2008: 11
Franklin County
Q1 2009: 7
Q1 2008: 14
Q4 2008: 7
Top 5 Counties (based on number of properties in foreclosure)
Benton County
Q1 2009: 1,214
Q1 2008: 757
Washington County
Q1 2009: 819
Q1 2008: 426
Pulaski County
Q1 2009: 746
Q1 2008: 806
Garland County
Q1 2009: 215
Q1 2008: 193
Saline County
Q1 2009: 213
Q1 2008: 220