US Home Foreclosures Down, But a Rise is Imminent

Home foreclosures in the US fell by 3% month-over-month in November and by 14% year-over-year. Foreclosures totaled 224,934 in November. That’s the latest report from foreclosure tracking firm RealtyTrac.

That is not altogether good news according to the research firm:

“Despite a seasonal slowdown similar to what we’ve seen in each of the past four years, November’s numbers suggest a new set of incoming foreclosure waves, many of which may roll into the market as REOs or short sales sometime early next year,” said James Saccacio, co-founder of RealtyTrac. “Overall foreclosure activity is down 14 percent from a year ago, the smallest annual decrease over the past 12 months, and some bellwether states such as California, Arizona and Massachusetts actually posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in November.”

Nevada, California, and Arizona led the country in foreclosure numbers for the month. In Nevada, one in every 175 properties was in foreclosure. In California the number was one in 211, and in Arizona foreclosed properties totaled one in every 256 properties.