Foreclosures in Florida dropped by a whopping 42 percent in November compared to the previous month, RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties reported on Thursday. Much of this drop was due to a fall off in default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, as lenders and servicers came under scrutiny, the California-based company said.
Nationwide, foreclosures declined by 21 percent.
“Foreclosure activity decreased dramatically in November, with fewer than 300,000 properties receiving a foreclosure notice for the first time since February 2009,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer at RealtyTrac. “While part of the decrease can be attributed to a seasonal drop of 7 to 10 percent that typically occurs in November, fallout from the foreclosure robo-signing controversy forced lenders and servicers to hit the pause button on many foreclosures while they scrambled to revamp their internal procedures and revise or resubmit questionable paperwork.”
The 21 percent month-over month decline and 14 percent year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity were the highest drops recorded since RealtyTrac began publishing the U.S. Foreclosure Report in January 2005.
With 32,938 properties received a foreclosure filing in November, Florida posted the second highest state total despite a 42 percent drop in foreclosure activity from the previous month. Default notices in Florida decreased 52 percent from the previous month, while scheduled auctions decreased 46 percent and bank repossessions decreased 20 percent.
Nevada, despite a 20 percent monthly decrease in foreclosure activity, posted the nation’s highest state foreclosure for the 47th straight month. One in every 99 Nevada housing units received a foreclosure filing in November, nearly five times the national average.
Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 in November were Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado.
