It’s time once again to expand on our preview of foreclosure activity with a more detailed look at October’s stats in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary:
October 2010
King: 1,307 NTS, up 96% YOY
Snohomish: 710 NTS, up 120% YOY
Pierce: 802 NTS, up 108% YOY
Note that until we get to next March, our year-over-year comparisons are going to be extremely high due to the lull that we saw last year after the new state foreclosure laws went into effect.
Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:
Same basic story we’ve been telling for the last two years. Month-to-month zig-zags, but an overall steady climb upward. It’s difficult to tell due to the distortion in 2009’s data, but the rate of increase may be tapering off somewhat.
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 625 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 381 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 396 households (higher is better).
According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for October of one foreclosure for every 440 housing units was 14th hightest among the 50 states and the District of Columbia (same as July, August, and September). 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 are still slightly below their June and July highs, but up notably from August.
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, hit this chart and drag the date slider to its full range. 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.