Foreclosures dip 10% from March ’13
Rate increases 36% since last month
4/10/2014Foreclosure activity in the four-county Toledo metro area fell nearly 10 percent in March from the same month a year earlier, according to new figures from RealtyTrac Inc., a California real estate data firm.
Last month in Lucas, Wood, Fulton, and Ottawa counties, there were 525 housing units — about 1 of every 574 units — in the foreclosure process in March, RealtyTrac said Wednesday. A year ago there were 583 housing units in the foreclosure process, which translates to a decrease of 9.95 percent from last year.
Foreclosure activity includes a mortgage loan with a default notice, a home with a scheduled sheriff’s auction, or a bank repossession.
The March foreclosure activity represented a 36 percent increase from February.
In Ohio, foreclosure-related filings were down 28 percent in March from a year earlier and up 42 percent from February. A total of 7,731 homes in Ohio, or 1 for every 663, were in some stage of foreclosure in March.
Nationally, foreclosure activity was down 23 percent from a year earlier and up 4 percent from February. A total of 117,485 homes nationwide were in a stage of foreclosure in March, or 1 for every 1,121 homes, RealtyTrac said.
Also, Lucas County Clerk of Courts Bernie Quilter has released foreclosure figures for March, which showed that 125 foreclosure cases were filed, a decrease of 36 percent from March, 2013, when 161 foreclosure cases were filed.
The 125 cases is the fewest number of foreclosure cases filed in March since 2004, the year the office began tracking foreclosures.
Through April 1 in Lucas County there were 357 foreclosure cases filed in 2014, the fewest number of foreclosure cases filed in the first quarter since 2004 when Mr. Quilter’s office began tracking foreclosure filings.
That’s down 35 percent from the first quarter of 2013, when there were 549 foreclosure cases filed in Lucas County.
Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.