Initial foreclosure filings rose 93 percent from January through November compared to the same period last year, foreclosure research company Foreclosures.com reported this week, and the number of homes that ended up as bank-owned properties rose 41 percent.

An estimated 1.08 million homes, or 14.8 of every 1,000 households, entered the foreclosure process nationwide in the first 11 months of the year. And 526,936 households, or 6.6 homes out of every 1,000 households, reverted to lender ownership.

An estimated 72,101 homes nationwide were repossessed by lenders in November alone, up 31.8 percent compared to October. Bank-owned properties are also known as real estate-owned, or REO, properties.

The Foreclosures.com statistics are based on an analysis of the number of formal notices filed against a property in the foreclosure process. The company noted that depending on the location and laws, there can be two to three filings per property, including notice of default and/or notice of foreclosure auction, and notice of REO or bank-owned real estate, which happens after a foreclosed property fails to sell at auction and reverts back to the lender.

Not all pre-foreclosures end up as REO properties because some homeowners may avoid foreclosure through short sales or other workouts with lenders, for example.

The Mortgage Banker Association reported earlier this month that the rate of foreclosure starts and the percentage of loans in foreclosure during the third-quarter reached record highs, and the delinquency rate on all loans rose 47 basis points from the second quarter to 5.59 percent — the highest level since 1986.

And foreclosure data company RealtyTrac reported that nationwide foreclosure filings jumped 94 percent in October compared to October 2006.

Alexis McGee, president of Foreclosures.com, said in a statement that there are “pockets of actual drops in the number of foreclosure and pre-foreclosure filings from a year ago,” despite the national increase.

“More foreclosures isn’t an unexpected trend as greater numbers of overextended homeowners facing tightened credit run out of options to foreclosure,” she stated. “The housing financial crunch could ease a bit, but only time will tell just how much of an effect and how many homeowners will be helped by the various workout options to be made available.”

The company reported statistics for REOs by region, per capita, in January-November 2007 compared to the same period in 2006:

• In the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin) there was a rate of 8.8 foreclosure filings per 1,000 households, up 23.9 percent. 

   

• In the Southwest (including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington), the rate was 8.3 filings per 1,000 households, up 72.9 percent. 

   

• In the Southeast (including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia): the rate was 7.1 filings per 1,000 households, up 31.5 percent. 

   

• In other states (including Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana and Utah) the rate was 6.2 REOs per every 1,000 households, down 1.6 percent. 

   

• In the Northeast (includes Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.), the rate was 1.4 filings per 1,000 households, up 7.7 percent. 

REOs by the top-10 states per capita in January-November 2007 vs. the same period last year:

• Nevada had 16.7 filings per 1,000 households in January-November 2007 vs. 6.2 for every 1,000 households during that period in 2006. 

   

• Colorado had 16.3 filings per 1,000 households during that period in 2007 vs. 20.9 for every 1,000 households during that period in 2006. 

   

• Michigan had 15.4 filings per 1,000 households during January-November 2007 vs. 10.2 during that period in 2006. 

Source: Inman News