Total foreclosure filings up 19 percent from Q2; Down 11 percent from Q3 2008.

The District of Columbia reported 1,183 properties with foreclosure filings in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 19 percent from the previous quarter, but still 11 percent below the level reported in the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest RealtyTrac^® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. 

Foreclosure activity in The District of Columbia was up down 7 percent in September from the previous month to 420 properties with foreclosure filings and up 101 percent from September 2008.

“Foreclosure activity heated up in the District of Columbia in the third quarter of 2009, though activity remained well below the level reported for this time last year,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The employment picture within the District appears to be leveling out, if not improving slightly, which has spared some homeowners from immediate peril.”

One in every 240 The District of Columbia housing units received a foreclosure filing during the third quarter.

The District a minor contributor to nation’s foreclosure activity in the quarter

The District of Columbia accounted for less than 1 percent of the 937,840 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide for the third quarter and less than 1 percent of the 343,638 properties with foreclosure filings reported for September. Total U.S. activity declined 5.4 percent between the second and third quarter of the year, but was up 23 percent from the third quarter of 2008. One in every 136 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, the highest quarterly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in 2005.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month — broken out by type of filing at the county, state and national level. RealtyTrac’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). If more than one foreclosure document is filed against a property during the month — which is extremely rare — only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

The District of Columbia Foreclosure Rates – Q3 2009

The District of Columbia Foreclosure Totals – Q3 2009

The District of Columbia Foreclosure Rates – Sept 2009

The District of Columbia Foreclosure Totals – Sept 2009