NE Tenn. new foreclosure filings drop to an all-time low

donfenley.com

5 years ago

NE Tenn. properties with new foreclosure filings hit an all-time low of 83 during the first half of this year. Only one of the nine local counties in ATTOM Data Solutions’ Midyear Foreclosure Market Report increased from the first six months of last year. That was Scott Co. Va., and the increase was for one filing more than last year.

“The government’s foreclosure moratorium and mortgage forbearance program have created an unprecedented situation – historically high numbers of seriously delinquent loans and historically low levels of foreclosure activity,” said Rick Sharga, Executive Vice President of RealtyTrac, an ATTOM company. “With the moratorium scheduled to end on July 31, and half of the remaining borrowers in forbearance scheduled to exit that program over the next six months, we should start to get a more accurate read on the level of financial distress the pandemic has caused for homeowners across the country.”

Although the analysis results distributed to the media didn’t include a breakdown of the number of bank repossessions v. notice of trustee sales, the overview said bank repossessions dropped to the lowest level since 2005.

“Fewer bank repossessions may be a trend we continue to see even after the government’s programs protecting borrowers from foreclosure expire,” Sharga noted. “Rising home prices have provided most homeowners with enough equity to sell their homes at a profit, rather than lose them to a foreclosure or repossession.”

NE Tenn. new foreclosure filings.

There was a slight uptick in delinquency rates in both Tri-Cities metro areas in the most recent CoreLogic Loan Performance report.

The number of mortgaged properties with early-stage delinquencies was 5.5% in the Kingsport-Bristol metro area, up from 4.3%. The Johnson City rate was 5%, up from 3.9%.

The serious delinquency rate in the Johnson City metro area was 3%, up from 1.1%. It was 3.6% in Kingsport-Bristol, up from 1.3%.

Here’s a county-level drill down on mortgaged properties with new filings during the first half of this year:

Carter – 14

Unicoi – 1

Washington Co. Tenn. – 8

Hawkins – 13

Sullivan – 29

Bristol, Va. – 0

Scott – 2

Washington Co. Va. – 9

Greene – 7