story by Kim Souza
ksouza@thecitywire.com
Arkansas foreclosure activity continues to slow and are part of a national trend in which first quarter foreclosures were their lowest rate in 8 years, according to Irvine, Calif.,-based RealtyTrac.com. Filings were down in Northwest Arkansas, up in Sebastian County, but down overall in the Fort Smith metro.
There were 313,487 U.S. properties in foreclosure during the first quarter of this year, down 8% from a year ago. These properties included those in default, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.
Arkansas had 1,302 foreclosure filings reported in the first quarter, down 4.12% from the year-ago period, according to RealtyTrac. Also following a national trend, the number of bank repossessions reported in March ticked higher in most Arkansas counties and marked a 17-month high for bank repossessions in the country.
“The 17-month high in bank repossessions in March corresponds to a 17-month high in scheduled foreclosures auctions in October,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “The March increase is continued cleanup of distress still lingering from the previous housing crisis; not the beginning of a new crisis by any means. Some of most stubborn foreclosure cases are finally being flushed out of the foreclosure pipeline, and we would expect to see more noise in the numbers over the next few months as national foreclosure activity makes its way back to more stable patterns by the end of this year.”
Despite the spike in March, bank repossessions in the first quarter were still down from a year ago. Lenders repossessed 82,081 U.S. properties during the quarter, up 7% from the previous quarter but still down 14% from a year ago.
Properties that completed the foreclosure process in the first quarter took an average of 620 days to complete the foreclosure process, up from 572 days in the first quarter of 2014.
States with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter were Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Illinois, and New Jersey. Among metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 200,000 or more, those with the highest foreclosure rates were Atlantic City, N.J., Rockford, Ill., Ocala, Fla., Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla., and Miami, Fla.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
In Benton County RealtyTrac.com reports there were 119 new foreclosure filings in the first quarter of 2015, down 35% compared to the first quarter of 2014.. The majority of those (68) homes were bank repossessions.
RealtyTrac reported one in every 789 households in Benton County were in some phase of foreclosure in the first quarter of 2015.
In neighboring Washington County there were 64 new foreclosure filings in the quarter, down 14.67% from a year ago. The majority of these filings (51) were scheduled auctions, which can take an average of six to eight weeks to complete once the date is filed with the court. The foreclosure rate represents one in every 1,377 households in Washington County.
FORT SMITH REGION
Foreclosure activity in the Fort Smith region bucked the state trend with Sebastian County reporting an uptick in new filings compared to a year ago. Sebastian County reported 41 new foreclosure filings in the first quarter, up 5% from the same period last year. The majority of these filings (31) were homes slated for auction. This could mean the number of filings remain higher through the next quarter or so as these properties work their way through the pipeline.
One in every 1,341 homes in Sebastian County were in the midst of foreclosure in the first quarter of this year.
In Crawford County there were 15 homes in foreclosure in the first quarter, down 44% from the same period last year. Like in Sebastian County, the majority of new filings (13) were for homes slated for auction within the next two months.
One in every 1,742 homes in Crawford County had a foreclosure filing in the recent quarter.