According to a new report issued by RealtyTrac, a real estate information company, U.S. foreclosure activity decreased 15 percent in November overall.
Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were reported on 113,454 U.S. properties in November, a 15 percent decrease from the previous month and a 37 percent decrease from a year ago.
South Carolina, however, was among one of the states with the nation’s highest foreclosure rates, with 3,207 foreclosures in November 2013 or one in every 660 housing units with a foreclosure filing, a 10.43 percent increase from October 2013, but a 31.77 percent decrease since November 2012. The 3,207 includes lis pendens, notice of trustee’s sale and real estate owned properties.
“While some of the decrease in November can be attributed to seasonality, the depth and breadth of the decrease provides strong evidence that we are entering the ninth inning of this foreclosure crisis with the outcome all but guaranteed,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac. “While foreclosures will likely continue to stage a weak rally in certain markets next year as the last of the distress left over from the Great Recession is dealt with, it is highly unlikely that there will be a foreclosure comeback that poses any major threat to the solid housing recovery that has now taken hold.”
