Foreclosure can be a painfully long, drawn-out process. Among foreclosures that were completed last quarter, the average time from start to finish (loan default to property repossession) was 629 days, according to real estate data company RealtyTrac. That’s the longest it’s been since RealtyTrac started reporting the figure in the first quarter of 2007.
The sluggish procedure is part of why the U.S. foreclosure rate went up in July, compared to the foreclosure rates in June and July 2014. One in every 1,057 U.S. homes was in some state of foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac’s monthly analysis of residential foreclosure filings (default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions). That’s an increase of 7% from June and 14% from last year.
Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, explained the surge:
“The increase in overall foreclosure activity over the last five months has been driven primarily by rapidly rising bank repossessions, which in July reached the highest level since January 2013,” Blomquist said in a news release about the data. “Meanwhile foreclosure starts in July were at the lowest level since November 2005 — a nearly 10-year low that demonstrates the recent rise in bank repossessions represents banks flushing out old distress rather than new distress being pushed into the pipeline.”
That explanation holds true among the states with the highest foreclosure rates. Generally, foreclosure completions were up in those states, while foreclosure starts were down. Still, those states have a lot of distressed properties out there.
If you find yourself in danger of falling behind on (or no longer being able to afford) your monthly mortgage payments, immediately look into ways to cut your budget or make other changes to save your home from foreclosure. Foreclosure can be not only stressful, time-consuming and emotionally taxing, it will also severely damage your credit, potentially complicating your finances for years to come. You can see where you stand credit-wise by getting your credit scores for free every month on Credit.com.
Here are five states where foreclosures heated up in July…
10. North Carolina
July 2015 Foreclosure Rate: 1 in every 970 residential properties
North Carolina’s foreclosure rate is down 4% from last month, bringing it down from it’s No. 9 spot in June. Compared to last year, the foreclosure rate is up 36%.
9. Ohio
July 2015 Foreclosure Rate:1 in every 932
Foreclosure activity fell both from last month and last year, so its rank fell from 7th to 9th on this list. Still, a 70% increase in foreclosure completions since last July kept Ohio’s foreclosure rate pretty high.
8. South Carolina
July 2015 Foreclosure Rate: 1 in every 923
There wasn’t much change in South Carolina’s foreclosure activity — it was up 4% from June and down 3% from July 2103 — but its consistent supply of distressed properties was enough to move South Carolina up two spots on this list from last month.
7. Georgia
July 2015 Foreclosure Rate: 1 in every 900
Georgia wasn’t in the top 10 in last month’s RealtyTrac report (it was 12th), but a 28% increase in foreclosure activity from June to July explains the jump. There was a 93% increase in foreclosure completions in that time.
6. New Mexico
July 2015 Foreclosure Rate: 1 in every 741
New Mexico is another state that jumped into the top 10 this month (from 32nd). RealtyTrac noted it recently changed some of its data-collection methods in New Mexico, which means the 187% annual increase in foreclosure activity might overstate the shift. However, the same methods were used last month, and the data shows a 147% increase in foreclosure completions from June to July.
The 10 States Where Foreclosure Activity Heated Up in July shows the rest of the states with the highest rates of foreclosure.
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This article originally appeared on Credit.com.
This article by Christine DiGangi was distributed by the Personal Finance Syndication Network.
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