Tri-Cities area properties with foreclosure filings dropped to a three-year low during the first half of 2019. Attom Data Solution’s Midyear U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows 370 properties with filing in the area’s two metro regions.

Kingsport-Bristol saw the most improvement when compared to the first half of last year. The number of new filings (220) was down 19.7%. Johnson City MSA filings (150) were down 9.6%.

Nationwide there were 296,458 properties with new filing that include default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions. That’s an 18% decline from last year and down 82% from the peak during the first six months of 2010.

Filings in the three-county Johnson City MSA also peaked in 2010. Midyear they were down 57.4% from that peak.

Kingsport-Bristol’s four-county filings peaked in 2016. Midyear they were down 68%.

Counter to the national trend, 36 of the 220 MSAs analyzed in Attom’s report (16%) posted a year-over-year increase in foreclosure activity in the first six months of 2019. Those MSAs included Buffalo, New York (up 33%); Orlando, Florida (up 32%); Jacksonville, Florida (up 18%); Miami, Florida (up 7%); and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida (up 5%).

“Our midyear 2019 foreclosure activity helps to show an overall view on how foreclosure activity is trending downward,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. “Of course, you still have pockets across the nation where foreclosure activity is seeing some flare-ups. Foreclosure starts is a good indication of markets to watch. For instance, in looking at the largest markets across the nation with the greatest annual increase in foreclosure starts, 4 out of the 5 markets were in Florida. “

While neither of the two local MSAs saw an increase in foreclosure filings, one county market saw a slight increase.  At midyear, Hawkins had 50 new filings, up from 43 during the first six months of last year. Although Hawkins had seven filings increase the county’s long-term foreclosure filing trend is consistent with the other local counties.

The region’s two largest county markets – Washington and Sullivan – have the largest number of filings but the share of new foreclosures filings as a percentage of total housing units is fairly even across the area.

New local 2019 filings year as a percentage of total housing units:

Hawkins – 18%

Washington – 17%

Sullivan – 16%

Unicoi – 15%

Carter – 12%

According to MarketWatch, the loosening of lending standards has been cited in previous Attom reports as a situation that resulted in riskier mortgages. The current increase in foreclosure filings in the MSAs that ran counter to the national trend may suggest that homeowners in those areas are stretched too thin and are encountering higher economic stress.

The rise in foreclosures has been mostly confined to southern states, suggesting that homeowners there are more financially vulnerable. A MarketWatch report cited Alabama as an example. It has a median annual income of just $26,498 per capita. It also has higher debt upon graduation, higher rates of poverty and preventable hospital admissions, according to the U.S. News & World Report.

METHODOLOGY

Attom’s report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into Attom’s Data Warehouse during the month and quarter. Some foreclosure filings entered into the database during the quarter may have been recorded in the previous quarter. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide, and those counties account for more than 90% of the U.S. population. Attom’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).

For the annual, midyear and quarterly reports, if more than one type of foreclosure document is received for a property during the timeframe, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The annual, midyear, quarterly and monthly reports all check if the same type of document was filed against a property previously. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state where the property is located, the report does not count the property in the current year, quarter or month.

Categories: REAL ESTATE