Foreclosure activity in the six Northeast Tennessee counties included in a national analysis was down 30.7% from last year – almost double the decline nation-wide.

There were 140 local properties with foreclosure filings, according to Attom Data Solution’s Q3 Foreclosure Market Report. During Q3 2018, the count was 202. Only one county – Hawkins – had a foreclosure increase. The total includes properties with default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions.

Across the U.S. foreclosure activity in the third quarter fell 19% from a year ago to the lowest level since the second quarter of 2005, a 13-year low.

“Foreclosure activity continues to decline across the country, which is a good sign that the housing market and the broader economy remain strong – and that the lending excesses that helped bring down the economy during the Great Recession remain a memory,” said Todd Teta, Attom Data Solutions chief product officer.

“This is not to say that everything in the latest foreclosure picture is rosy,” Teta said. “Some states have seen their foreclosure rates increase this year, which could cause some concern. But overall, the foreclosure numbers reflect a market in which buyers can afford their homes and lenders remain careful in loaning to home buyers who have little chance of repaying.”

Here’s a breakdown of the Q3 foreclosures in the local counties looked compared to the same period last year:

Carter – 10, down 3

Greene – 12, down 11

Hawkins – 56, up 3

Sullivan – 56, down 62

Unicoi – 3, down 7

Washington – 37, down 21

Attom’s Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the firm’s data warehouse during the month and quarter. Some foreclosure filings entered into the database during the quarter may have been recorded in a previous quarter.  The 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