TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Foreclosure data from real estate company ATTOM showed Florida’s foreclosure rates for over the past year rose 71.26% according to their latest data.
In just the past month, ATTOM reported a nearly 3% increase of foreclosures across the country in September 2022, while in Florida, the number of foreclosures shrank by nearly 4% instead from August to September.
In Florida, ATTOM reported there were 9,284 foreclosure filings in the past quarter, with 6,671 foreclosure starts during that period. Of the top five states ranked by foreclosure starts, Florida was No. 2, with just California ahead.
“Foreclosure starts, while rising since the end of the government’s foreclosure moratorium, still lag behind pre-pandemic levels,” Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence for ATTOM, said. “Foreclosure activity is reflecting other aspects of the economy, as unemployment rates continue to be historically low, and mortgage delinquency rates are lower than they were before the COVID-19 outbreak.”
While foreclosures ramped up nationally, but shrank moderately in Florida, data from AgentStory, a firm which tracks active real estate agents, found that the number of agents in service in Tampa had gone down by 11%, while in the U.S. overall, agent activity had decreased 51% in September.
According to AgentStory, active agents are those that have made a sale or transaction in the given month, or have sold at least one house in a calendar month.
In August, the trends were reversed, with a 7% increase in activity in Tampa and a 4% decrease nationally. Florida communities around Tampa Bay had similar trend reversals compared to the national numbers, according to the AgentStory data.
In Sarasota, September activity dropped 23% while it rose 10% the month before in August. For Lakeland agents, activity fell 25% in September but was up 15% in August.
St. Petersburg agents saw similar activity to Sarasota, with a 23% drop in September but an 11% increase in August, while Bradenton, Clearwater, and Davenport saw 16%, 26%, and 28% decreases in September, respectively.
For August, Bradenton, Clearwater, and Davenport agents had different trends. The AgentStory data reported a 5% decrease and 1% decrease in activity for Bradenton and Clearwater, but a 34% increase in agent activity for Davenport.
Statewide in Florida, AgentStory reported a 30% drop in agent activity for September, and a 1% increase in August.
Of the more than 6,000 foreclosure starts in Florida, roughly 30% were in Miami alone, according to the data from ATTOM. The data also showed that one in every 4,413 properties in the U.S. had foreclosures in September, with 21,869 starting the foreclosure process that month.
Nationally, there were 92,634 foreclosure filings in the third quarter, and 31,836 in just September, which ATTOM reported was an 8% drop from the last month but a 62% increase over the year.
Year-over-year, the state of Vermont was the only part of the United States to have foreclosures shrink, compared to September 2021.
The company said lender and bank repossessions were increasing nationwide, with an 18% increase from the second fiscal quarter.
The newest mortgage rate from released Thursday by federally-backed mortgage company Freddie Mac showed a 0.3% increase from the week before. The new interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is again approaching 7%, this time measured at 6.92%.
“Rates resumed their record-setting climb this week, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reaching its highest level since April of 2002,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, said. “We continue to see a tale of two economies in the data: strong job and wage growth are keeping consumers’ balance sheets positive, while lingering inflation, recession fears and housing affordability are driving housing demand down precipitously. The next several months will undoubtedly be important for the economy and the housing market.”
Accompanied by the foreclosure increase nationally, and recent trends of the high rates encouraging homebuyers to look for smaller spaces to keep purchases affordable, real estate fluctuations remain in flux due to inflation and the Federal Reserve’s effort to curb prices for consumers. Over the past year, the mortgage rate rose from 3.05% in October 2021.
See the full data set of foreclosures from ATTOM below.
| Rate Rank | State Name | Total Properties with Filings | 1/every X HU (Foreclosure Rate) | %∆ Q2 2022 | %∆ Q3 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | 92,634 | 1,517 | 2.77 | 103.52 | |
| 18 | Alabama | 1,271 | 1,800 | -7.43 | 74.83 |
| 21 | Alaska | 165 | 1,924 | 51.38 | 101.22 |
| 32 | Arizona | 1,281 | 2,406 | -12.62 | 130.40 |
| 38 | Arkansas | 461 | 2,962 | 24.26 | 94.51 |
| 12 | California | 10,850 | 1,326 | 11.04 | 77.55 |
| 26 | Colorado | 1,172 | 2,126 | -22.84 | 224.65 |
| 10 | Connecticut | 1,205 | 1,270 | 3.34 | 100.50 |
| 2 | Delaware | 544 | 825 | 2.45 | 90.21 |
| District of Columbia | 58 | 6,041 | 9.43 | 123.08 | |
| 7 | Florida | 9,284 | 1,063 | -3.93 | 71.26 |
| 14 | Georgia | 3,021 | 1,460 | -3.11 | 141.29 |
| 31 | Hawaii | 239 | 2,348 | 20.10 | 77.04 |
| 44 | Idaho | 180 | 4,177 | -9.09 | 83.67 |
| 1 | Illinois | 7,821 | 694 | 2.84 | 113.75 |
| 8 | Indiana | 2,533 | 1,154 | -1.40 | 76.52 |
| 15 | Iowa | 942 | 1,500 | -1.67 | 98.73 |
| 41 | Kansas | 405 | 3,150 | 114.29 | 20.18 |
| 45 | Kentucky | 447 | 4,462 | 8.50 | 35.45 |
| 20 | Louisiana | 1,085 | 1,911 | 6.90 | 89.69 |
| 19 | Maine | 388 | 1,905 | -1.02 | 83.89 |
| 9 | Maryland | 2,103 | 1,203 | 47.79 | 141.72 |
| 29 | Massachusetts | 1,337 | 2,243 | 26.61 | 101.36 |
| 11 | Michigan | 3,547 | 1,288 | 20.77 | 242.04 |
| 28 | Minnesota | 1,117 | 2,225 | -18.94 | 184.22 |
| 35 | Mississippi | 507 | 2,603 | -1.17 | 108.64 |
| 34 | Missouri | 1,132 | 2,462 | -19.77 | 63.82 |
| 46 | Montana | 103 | 4,998 | -8.85 | 202.94 |
| 39 | Nebraska | 285 | 2,962 | -14.93 | 176.70 |
| 6 | Nevada | 1,241 | 1,032 | 8.67 | 45.15 |
| 37 | New Hampshire | 226 | 2,827 | 6.10 | 98.25 |
| 3 | New Jersey | 4,401 | 855 | -3.10 | 102.90 |
| 30 | New Mexico | 404 | 2,329 | -5.16 | 31.60 |
| 13 | New York | 5,926 | 1,432 | 31.57 | 187.95 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 2,646 | 1,780 | -9.88 | 104.64 |
| 48 | North Dakota | 45 | 8,236 | 4.65 | 60.71 |
| 5 | Ohio | 5,106 | 1,027 | -12.63 | 96.54 |
| 23 | Oklahoma | 877 | 1,992 | -25.30 | 89.01 |
| 42 | Oregon | 573 | 3,165 | 35.78 | 402.63 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | 2,911 | 1,973 | 1.36 | 129.39 |
| 36 | Rhode Island | 184 | 2,628 | 8.24 | 80.39 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 2,415 | 971 | 0.00 | 123.40 |
| 49 | South Dakota | 23 | 16,953 | 9.52 | 35.29 |
| 33 | Tennessee | 1,240 | 2,445 | 35.82 | 76.89 |
| 16 | Texas | 6,593 | 1,758 | -0.42 | 114.34 |
| 25 | Utah | 562 | 2,049 | 4.66 | 143.29 |
| 50 | Vermont | 15 | 22,288 | -25.00 | -51.61 |
| 27 | Virginia | 1,701 | 2,127 | 5.19 | 175.24 |
| 43 | Washington | 857 | 3,737 | 26.40 | 55.82 |
| 47 | West Virginia | 167 | 5,124 | 5.03 | 317.50 |
| 40 | Wisconsin | 905 | 3,014 | -1.63 | 14.27 |
| 24 | Wyoming | 133 | 2,044 | 25.47 | 111.11 |
