It’s time once again to expand on our preview of foreclosure activity with a more detailed look at January’s stats in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary:
January 2011
King: 928 NTS, up 10% YOY
Snohomish: 479 NTS, up 6% YOY
Pierce: 545 NTS, down 1% YOY
Still rising slowly in King and Snohomish, but actually down just a tad in Pierce. Surprising and interesting.
Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:
Still seeing a bit of a lull in foreclosure activity. Perhaps the foreclosure “freeze” put more of a damper on the process than it originally seemed. And yet, even at this “depressed” level, there are still more foreclosures being served every month than any time prior to 2009.
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 883 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 566 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 585 households (higher is better).
According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for January of one foreclosure for every 565 housing units was 12th hightest 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:
In 2009 and 2010 it seems that summer was prime time for foreclosures. It will be interesting to see if we see the same pattern in 2011.
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.