South Carolina near top in highest foreclosure rate

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South Carolina was among the states with the highest foreclosure rates during the month of August, according to a new report.

The overall foreclosure picture across the U.S. is not a pretty one.

ATTOM, a curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, has released its August 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

Data shows there were a total of 34,501 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — up 14% from a month ago and up 118% from a year ago, according to a news release from ATTOM.

Nationwide, one in every 4,072 housing units had a foreclosure filing in August 2022. States with the highest foreclosure rates were Illinois (one in every 1,926 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Delaware (one in every 2,387 housing units); South Carolina (one in every 2,417 housing units); New Jersey (one in every 2,441 housing units); and Florida (one in every 2,950 housing units).

You can read the full report and methodology here.

Foreclosure starts reach pre-pandemic levels nationwide

Lenders started the foreclosure process on 23,952 U.S. properties in August 2022, up 12% from last month and up 187% from a year ago, according to the report.

“Two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and after massive government intervention and mortgage industry efforts to prevent defaults, foreclosure starts have almost returned to 2019 levels,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM, in the release. “August foreclosure starts were at 86 percent of the number of foreclosure starts in August 2019, but it’s important to remember that even then, foreclosure activity was relatively low compared to historical averages.”

Among the 223 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in August 2022 were Peoria, Ill. (one in every 869 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Jacksonville, N.C. (one in every 968 housing units); Bakersfield, Calif. (one in every 1,454 housing units); South Bend, Ind. (one in every 1,478 housing units); and Rockford, Ill. (one in every 1,496 housing units).

Foreclosure completion numbers increase 28% from last month

Lenders repossessed 3,938 U.S. properties through completed foreclosures (REOs) in August 2022, up 28% from last month and up 59 percent from last year.

“Repossessions are likely to continue running below pre-pandemic levels for several reasons, most importantly that over 90 percent of borrowers in foreclosure have positive equity in their homes, and would benefit from selling these properties at a profit rather than risk losing everything to a foreclosure auction or lender repossession,” Sharga said in the release.

Those states that had the greatest number of REOs in April 2022, included: Illinois (493 REOs); New York (337 REOs); Michigan (326 REOs); Pennsylvania (260 REOs); and California (189 REOs).