Milwaukee saw a double-digit increase in the number of foreclosed properties during the first quarter of 2018, despite foreclosures across the United States being down 19 percent.
Irvine, California-based ATTOM Data Solution, a national firm that curates tax, deed, mortgage and foreclosure data, released the results Thursday, which showed a total of 189,870 U.S. properties with a foreclosure filing during the first quarter of 2018, up 4 percent from the previous quarter but still down 19 percent from a year ago and 32 percent below the pre-recession average of 278,912 per quarter from 2006.
Milwaukee was one of 53 metropolitan areas that posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosures in the first quarter with a 21 percent increase over the first quarter of 2017.
Indianapolis, Indiana led the pack, up 148 percent in foreclosures during the first quarter, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul, which was up 64 percent; Louisville, Kentucky up 36 percent; Austin, Texas, up 30 percent, and Oklahoma City, up 23 percent.
Nearly half, 45 percent, of all properties in foreclosure as of the end of the first quarter were tied to loans originated between 2004 and 2008, according to the report.
Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, said foreclosure starts are trending higher compared to a year ago in an increasing number of local markets, which is a bit surprising given the overall strength of housing in those markets.
“Less than half of all active foreclosures are now tied to loans originated during the last housing bubble,” Blomquist said. “Meanwhile we are beginning to see early signs that some post-recession loan vintages are defaulting at a slightly elevated rate, a sign that some loosening of lending standards has occurred in recent years.”
Nationwide, one in every 706 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing in the first quarter of 2018. States with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter were New Jersey with one in 233 housing units with a foreclosure filing; Delaware one in 317; Maryland one in 385; Illinois one in 425; and South Carolina one in 458.
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