Things are beginning to change for real estate investors! Since the moratorium and its extensions have begun to expire, foreclosures are starting to take off again. Although we haven’t reached pre-pandemic levels yet, the situation has improved significantly. In Q3, there were a total of 45,517 U.S. properties with this type of filings — default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions.
According to ATTOM’s Q3 2021 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, the number of foreclosure filings represents a 34% increase compared to the previous quarter and a 68% increase from a year ago. Furthermore, only in September 2021, 19,609 U.S. properties with this type of filings were registered, a 24% increase from the previous month and a 102% increase from September 2020.
But despite this news, we still have a long way to go to match historically normal numbers. How low are we? Well, the statement indicates that September foreclosure actions were almost 70% lower than before the Covid-19 pandemic in September of 2019, and Q3 activity was 60% lower than the same quarter that year. Nonetheless, seeing a rising trend again certainly catches our eye.
Texas (2,827) and Florida (2,546) are among the states with the most significant number of new foreclosures in Q3 2021 – joined by California (3,424), New York (1,363), and Illinois (1,362). Florida is also one of the states with the highest rates in that period (one in every 1,743 properties had a foreclosure filing). As for the metro areas, Miami (992) and Houston (866) are the ones that have the greatest number of foreclosure starts in said states.
This is a tendency we’ve been observing at Real Estate IQ, as well. Our pre-foreclosure listings in Houston (and Texas in general) and Miami have shown a significant recovery in August-September. You can check out the charts in our free monthly real estate market report.
Florida is also one of the states with the largest completed foreclosures in Q3 2021 (564 REOs). On the whole, lenders repossessed 7,574 U.S. properties during this quarter, a 22% increase from the previous one and a 46% increase in a year-over-year comparison.
Lastly, the average time to foreclose on a property also increased a bit. During Q3 2021, the process took an average of 924 days, up only two days from the previous quarter but up 94 days from Q3 2020.
To sum up, the consequences of the ending of the foreclosure moratorium are beginning to show. Whether they end up reaching pre-pandemic numbers or surpassing them to a great extent is something that we ignore for the time being. What we do know is that, as a real estate investor, you shouldn’t spend one more day without an active subscription to off market listings.
This recovery – mixed with the meager inventory and high prices in the MLS – is the perfect combo to convince anyone to turn to off market properties. They provide a secondary stream of homes with deeper discounts and less competition for investors. If you’re ready to jump in, why not do so with the best data in the market?
Disclaimer: The blog articles are intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing in the content is designed to be legal or financial advice.
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