January 2010 San Diego Foreclosure Numbers

San Diego, CA – Foreclosure Radar Releases Home Foreclosure Numbers for January

The latest Foreclosure Radar report showed up in my e-mail box yesterday.  Here are some of the highlights for California.

• A small percentage of foreclosures are making it completely through the process, re: being foreclosed on
• Delinquent payments are rising while foreclosures are slowing
• Foreclosure filings declined significantly in December of 2009 and continue to decrease
• Foreclosure outcomes have reversed; Back to bank rose 29.4 percent while sold to 3rd party rose 62.7 percent and cancellations 20.8 percent
• Scheduled for sale competing the process decreased to 21% in 2010 compared to 31% in 2009.

The total number of properties in the foreclosure process remain near record levels in California despite declines in new Notice of Default filings over the last year, largely due to the increase in the time it is taking banks to foreclose, which we cover in a new measure, Time to Foreclose, in this months report. Once Bank Owned (REO) properties are listed for sale they continue to sell quickly, leaving banks with lower than expected inventories.

We’ve added new measures this month. Time to Foreclose calculates the difference between the date the initial Notice of Default was recorded, and the date the property was sold at trustee sale over time. Time to Foreclose has increased from 146 days in August 2008 to 229 days in January 2010 as lenders have increasingly delayed foreclosures while working through loan modifications and other foreclosure alternatives and moratoriums. We’ve also looked at the average time it takes for properties sold at auction, either Back to Bank or to 3rd Parties, to in turn be resold. At an average 149 days to resell, auction investors are clearly out-performing the bank’s institutional asset managers who have averaged 224 days.

San Diego County: Notice of Default (NOD) – Notice of Trustee Sale (NTS) – REO (Back To Bank)

January 2010 – 1,861  NOD – 2,001 NOS – 943 REO – 346 Sold 3rd Party
December 2009 – 2,031 NOD – 2,135 NOS – 811 REO – 236 Sold 3rd Party
January 2009 – 3,046 NOD – 1,928 NOS – 1,060 REO – 74 Sold 3rd Party