Third Quarter Foreclosure Activity Increases Year over Year in 32 States

Irvine, CA, October 16, 2015—There were a total of 327,258 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions—in the third quarter of 2015, down 5% from the previous quarter but up 3% from the third quarter of 2014, according to RealtyTrac’s Q3 and September 2015 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

The annual increase in the third quarter marked the second consecutive quarter where U.S. foreclosure activity increased on a year-over-year basis following 19 consecutive quarters of year-over-year decreases.

A total of 133,811 U.S. properties started the foreclosure process in the third quarter, down 12% from the previous quarter and down 14% from a year ago to the lowest level since the third quarter of 2005.

There were a total of 123,040 U.S. properties repossessed by the lender (REOs) in the third quarter, down less than 1% from the previous quarter but up 66% from a year ago, the largest year-over-year increase in bank repossessions since RealtyTrac began tracking quarterly foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2008.