Foreclosure Declines in Most Metropolitan Areas

Of the 211 metropolitan areas with populations of more than 200,000 people, 84 percent experienced lower rates of foreclosure activity during the first half of the year when compared to the same period in 2010, according to the latest statistics from the analysis firm RealtyTrac. However, experts caution that this change is not due to more homeowners being in a position to better meet their monthly bills, but lengthy legal processes or even moratoriums placed on filings, which slowed the pace in many areas to a crawl even as they were lifted.

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“Foreclosure activity continued to slow in the first half of 2011, especially in the most foreclosure-saturated markets and in markets where the judicial foreclosure process is used,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The 20 metro areas with the biggest year-over-year decreases in foreclosure activity were all in states with judicial foreclosure processes – New York, Maryland, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Illinois.”

Some other problems could loom for the mortgage industry as well, because banks and the federal government are still in a bit of a shoving match over the settlement banks must pay for their part in the robosigning scandal, according to the Wall Street Journal. In particular, the banks are squabbling over how much each will have to pay as part of the agreement.

[Resource: The Ultimate Guide to Underwater Mortgages]

Image: Mike Wilson, via Flickr.com

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