A sure-fire sign of an improving real estate market is the fall of foreclosure activity, and luckily those trends are down throughout the nation for the eighth consecutive month, according to RealtyTrac‘s newly released data.
Monitoring foreclosure activity throughout the nation down to a city level, the data showed that foreclosure activity is below 2006 average monthly levels.
However, not all states are measuring equally. RealtyTrac reported 18 states and the District of Columbia posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosures. The highest foreclosure rates were seen in Delaware, Florida, Nevada, Maryland and New Jersey.
A few metro areas witnessed gains in foreclosure activity as well, including Rockford, Illinois; Trenton, New Jersey; Tuscon, Arizona and St. Petersburg, Florida.
New York was one of the 18 states that saw an annual rise in foreclosures.
Taking a closer look at New York City, specifically, there were 51 properties that were either fully real estate owned (REO) or in the foreclosure process in May 2016. That makes a 104 percent change over April 2016 and a 6.25 percent change over the previous year.
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The entire metro statistical area of New York-Newark-Jersey City saw a total of 8,027 foreclosures in May, with 1,757 of them fully real estate owned properties. In the area, that means that every one in 976 homes are under foreclosures.
The foreclosure rate fell 2.73 percent annually, but it increased from April to May by 12.68 percent. New York County itself had the biggest jump in foreclosures, and Hudson County saw the biggest monthly drop, at 26.42 percent. Middlesex County followed closely behind with a monthly drop of 26.21 percent.
Annaully, Hudson County ranked again as having the biggest fall out of any metro-area county, with a 43.97 percent drop in foreclosures year-over-year. Orange and Putman counties saw the biggest increase of foreclosures with 66.12 percent and 65.31 percent annual increases, respectfully.
In Somerset County, there was no change on an annual basis after a 9.8 percent dip over last month.