California
Notice of Default filings increased 69.5 percent to the highest level in a year. Notice of Trustee Sale filings were up more moderately, rising 6.0 percent month-over-month, but down 23.6 percent year-over-year. Cancellations were nearly flat, up just 1.9 percent from July. Activity on the courthouse steps increased in August. Properties Sold Back to Bank (REO) increased 12.3 percent from the prior month. Properties Sold to 3rd Parties rose 9.9 percent month-over-month, and 10.8 percent year-over-year. Time to Foreclose increased to 333 days in August, which is 49 days longer than a year ago.
Foreclosure Starts Driven Higher by Bank of America
Foreclosure filings and sales increase throughout most of our coverage are in August. Foreclosure starts jumped significantly, reversing what had been a declining trend over the past several months. Investors bought more properties on the courthouse steps in August than in July everywhere except in Washington. The number of properties Sold Back to Bank jumped significantly in Oregon, and also rose in California and Nevada.
Foreclosure starts (the first notice filed, either a Notice of Default or Notice of Trustee Sale depending on the state) rose in every state. This appears to have been primarily driven by Bank of America and related entities, where we saw an overall 116 percent increase from July to August. Wells Fargo and US Bank also saw an increases in foreclosure start filings, while filings by JP Morgan Chase and Citibank were essentially flat.
“Bank of America appears to be primarily responsible for the surge in foreclosure starts this month,” says Sean O’Toole, Founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com. “Since their average time to foreclose has recently increased to more than a year, it is unclear that these foreclosure starts will lead to an increase in foreclosure sales anytime soon.”
San Diego County Foreclosure Trends
Foreclosure Outcomes–After the filing of a Notice of Trustee Sale, there are only three possible outcomes. First, the sale can be Cancelled for reasons that include a successful loan modification or short sale, a filing error, or a legal requirement to re-file the notice after extended postponements. Alternatively, if the property is taken to sale, the bank will place the opening bid. If a 3rd party, typically an investor, bids more than the bank’s opening bid, the property will be Sold to 3rd Party; if not, it will go Back to the Bank and become part of that bank’s REO inventory.
Foreclosure Inventories–Preforeclosure inventory is an estimate of the number of properties that have had a Notice of Default filed against the property, but have not yet been Scheduled for Sale. The Scheduled for Sale inventory indicates those properties that have had a Notice of Trustee Sale filed, but have not yet been sold or had the sale cancelled. The Bank Owned (REO) inventory indicates the number of properties that have been sold Back to the Bank at the trustee sale, and which the bank has not yet resold to another party.
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