It’s time once again to expand on our preview of foreclosure activity with a more detailed look at April’s stats in King, Snohomish, and Pierce counties. First up, the Notice of Trustee Sale summary:
April 2012
King: 441 NTS, down 51.6% YOY
Snohomish: 275 NTS, down 49.7% YOY
Pierce: 267 NTS, down 55.6% YOY
Slightly different tune than we had been seeing over the last few months. Foreclosures have been falling year-over-year for quite some time, but this is the first time in a few months that they decreased month-over-month.
Here’s your interactive Tableau dashboard updated with the latest foreclosure data:
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 1,889 households, Snohomish County had 1 NTS per 999 households, and Pierce had 1 NTS for every 1,208 households (higher is better).
According to foreclosure tracking company RealtyTrac, Washington’s statewide foreclosure rate for March of one foreclosure for every 1,581 housing units was 35th highest 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:
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.