Foreclosure-related filings fell during April in four of five Western states covered by ForeclosureRadar, a surprising trend given that banks have had time to resolve robo-signing issues and lenders would be expected to be trying to make up for recent delays, the company said.
Foreclosure-related filings tracked by ForeclosureRadar declined from March to April in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington.
Oregon, however, saw notices of default jump 236 percent, to 3,719. Much of that increase was attributed to Bank of America subsidiary ReconTrust, which filed 2,840 new notices of default in April, up from 131 during the first three months of the year.
Bank repossessions in Oregon fell 14.8 percent from March to April and 59.1 percent from a year ago, to 248, while sales to third parties were up 38.7 percent month-over-month, totaling 43.
In California, foreclosure-related filings fell in April to lows not seen since the fall of 2008. Notice of default filings were down 25.8 percent from March and 28 percent from a year ago, to 20,788. Auction notices (notices of trustee’s sale) fell 10.9 percent from March and 31.2 percent from a year ago, to 21,732.
Foreclosure-sale cancellations rose 27 percent from March, to 18,488, and the number of homes repossessed by banks into real estate owned (REO) inventory fell 17.2 percent, to 11,342. Sales to third parties on the courthouse steps were also down 15.7 percent from March, to 3,553.
Arizona saw auction notices plummet 27.8 percent from March and 41.5 percent from a year ago, to 5,950. Foreclosure sale cancellations jumped 18.8 percent, to 4,688, nearly equaling the number of bank repossessions, which fell 22.2 percent in April to 4,708. Sales to third parties on the courthouse steps were also down 15.4 percent from March, to 1,675.
In Nevada, notices of default were down 17.8 percent from March and 35.8 percent from a year ago, totaling 4,708. Auction notices were also down sharply — by 23.7 percent from March and 17.5 percent from a year ago — totaling 5,160.
Foreclosure sale cancellations were up 14 percent from March and 69.5 percent from a year ago, to 3,446, surpassing the 3,384 bank repossessions in the state during April. While bank repossessions were essentially unchanged from March, sales to third parties inched up 6.8 percent, to 1,060 — an 81.2 percent jump from a year ago.
Auction notices fell 12.1 percent in Washington from March to April and 25.4 percent from a year ago, to 2,882. Foreclosure sale cancellations outnumbered bank repossessions, climbing 27.6 percent from March and 42.8 percent from a year ago, to 2,254.
Banks added 1,682 homes to their REO inventories in April, up 38.6 percent from March and 47.4 percent from a year ago. Sales to third parties also climbed 40.5 percent from March to April, totaling 215, a 21.5 percent increase from a year ago.
"The drop in filings, and the rise in cancellations, is surprising," said Sean O’Toole, CEO and founder of ForeclosureRadar.com, in a statement. "Banks have had time to resolve robo-signing issues, so we should be seeing exactly the opposite results, with lenders starting to catch up from recent delays."
