Time for our detailed look at foreclosure activity for March in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary:
March 2009
King: 1,347 NTS, up 23.7% YOY
Snohomish: 472 NTS, up 25.5% YOY
Pierce: 455 NTS, up 15.5% YOY
Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:
Yikes! We had been at least relatively flat since backing down off the big legislation-induced spike last June, but it seems that someone opened the floodgates in March. With month-to-month spikes of 55% in Pierce to 87% in King County, something is definitely going on. Is there another “foreclosure prevention” measure in the pipeline that would cause lenders to rush to beat another deadline?
The percentage of households in the chart above is determined using OFM population estimates and household sizes from the 2000 Census. King County came in at 1 NTS per 602 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 429 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 388 households (higher is better).
According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for February of one foreclosure for every 306 housing units was 32rd worst among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Note that RealtyTrac’s definition of “in foreclosure” is much broader than what we are using, and includes Notice of Default, Lis Pendens, Notice of Trustee Sale, and Real Estate Owned.
Hit the jump for a larger version of the chart that shows the percentage of households in each county receiving a foreclosure notice each month:
All three counties hit their second-highest level in March.
Whatever is going on this time, it does not appear to be geographically limited to Washington state. Yesterday Calculated Risk linked to this story from San Diego: Major lender signals surge in local foreclosures
Bank of America, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, ramped up its foreclosure activity in March, sending hundreds of letters warning delinquent borrowers in the region that it could sell their homes at auction in as little as three weeks, according to North County Times analysis of data from ForeclosureRadar.
The bank said the increased activity was a natural consequence of borrowers running out of options.
Analysts and real estate agents said the moves by the Charlotte, N.C., banking giant, which controls a large share of the Southern California mortgage market, could signal a final reckoning for homeowners who have been protected by government programs for months or even years.
It will be interesting to see how this effects the local market in the coming months as the tax credit expires and mortgage rates presumably rise.
Note: The graphs above are derived from monthly Notice of Trustee Sale counts gathered at King, Snohomish, and Pierce County records. For a longer-term picture of King County foreclosures back to 1979, refer to the final chart in this post. For the full legal definition of what a Notice of Trustee Sale is and how it fits into the foreclosure process, check out RCW 61.24.040. The short version is that it is the notice sent to delinquent borrowers that their home will be repossessed in 90 days.