Foreclosures tick up in February, stay down from last year

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National foreclosure rates, as well as those in North Carolina, rose a few notches in February compared with January but were down significantly from February 2012, according to a report from RealtyTrac, an analytics firm.

There were 154,281 foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions –reported on U.S. properties in February, up 2 percent from January. Overall numbers are still down, however, with foreclosure filings plummeting 25 percent compared with February 2012.

More RealtyTrac numbers:

• Bank repossessions dropped to a 65-month low across the country, down 11 percent from January and down 29 percent from February 2012.

• There were 2,557 foreclosure proceedings started on homes in North Carolina in February, up 4.3 percent from January but down 15 percent from the same time a year ago.
• South Carolina in February had 2,867 foreclosure proceedings started, a 15 percent increase compared with January but a 34 percent decrease compared with February 2012.
•  North Carolina ranked 32nd in foreclosure filings in February, while South Carolina ranked 11th.
•  The nine leading states in annual percent change in foreclosure starts in February all showed increases: Nevada (334 percent), Maryland (319 percent), Washington (172 percent), New York (139 percent), Arkansas (75 percent), New Jersey (70 percent), Iowa (63 percent), Utah (30 percent) and Florida (13 percent).
•  Florida in February held on to the top spot with the highest state foreclosure rate in the U.S. for the sixth month in a row. One in every 282 Florida housing units had a foreclosure filing in the month. Of the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest foreclosure rates in February, seven were in Florida.
•  Foreclosure starts reached a 17-month high in Nevada and a 31-month high in Maryland.

Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac vice president, said in the report that the high level of foreclosures in the U.S. has been “effectively contained and should be reduced to a slow burn in the next two years.” But Blomquist warned that “dangerous foreclosure flare-ups are still popping up” in states in which legislation or lengthy court processes have delayed foreclosures.

Blomquist said foreclosures have begun piling up in those states over the past few months and will “likely end up as bank repossessions or short sales later this year.”

According to a March 6 report from RealtyTrac, Charlotte is one of the best places to purchase bank-owned homes. RealtyTrac studied more than 900 metropolitan areas across the country.

Charlotte ranked third, behind Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio. Winston-Salem and Greensboro also made the top 10, at sixth and ninth, respectively.

The sale of bank-owned homes in Charlotte skyrocketed in the fourth quarter of 2012, up 109 percent from the same time in 2011. Such homes in Charlotte sold for an average of $111,260, or third highest in the nation, and at a 43 percent discount from non-distressed sales, tied for ninth place with Chattanooga. The homes stayed on the market an average of 144 days before selling, tied for fifth with Winston-Salem and Greensboro.

Average sales prices for bank-owned in Charlotte dwarfed those in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, which sold for an average of $72,356 and $85,333, respectively. Winston-Salem had a discount of 49 percent, Greensboro 40 percent.

Charlotte stood third on the list of average bank-owned home sales prices, with Chicago taking second and Sarasota, Fla., topping the list. Greensboro took ninth and Winston Salem was 11th of the 15.

In February, the number of properties that received a foreclosure filing in Charlotte was 21 percent higher than in January, but 11 percent lower than in the same time last year. The median sale price for foreclosed homes was $73,000 in January, 53 percent lower than non-distressed home sales at $155,000.

Bennett can be reached at (704) 247-2911, [email protected] or on Twitter at @AbbieRBennett.