Activity  Inches Up After Three Straight Quarterly Decreases Following Robo-Signing
    Foreclosure  Processing and Sales Timelines Hit Record Highs

IRVINE, Calif. – Oct. 13, 2011 — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com),  the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its  U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for the third quarter of 2011, which shows  foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank  repossessions — were reported on 610,337 properties in the third quarter,  an increase of less than 1 percent from the previous quarter and a decrease of  34 percent from the third quarter of 2010. The report shows one in every 213  U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 214,855 U.S.  properties in September, a 6 percent decrease from August and a 38 percent  decrease from September 2010.  September marked  the 12th straight month where foreclosure activity decreased on a  year-over-year basis.

“U.S. foreclosure activity has been mired down  since October of last year, when the robo-signing controversy sparked a flurry  of investigations into lender foreclosure procedures and paperwork,” said James  Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “While foreclosure activity in  September and the third quarter continued to register well below levels from a  year ago, there is evidence that this temporary downward trend is about to  change direction, with foreclosure activity slowly beginning to ramp back up.

“Third quarter foreclosure activity increased  marginally from the previous quarter, breaking a trend of three consecutive  quarterly decreases that started in the fourth quarter of 2010,” Saccacio  continued. “This marginal increase in overall foreclosure activity was fueled  by a 14 percent jump in new default notices, indicating that lenders are  cautiously throwing more wood into the foreclosure fireplace after spending months  trying to clear the chimney of sloppily filed foreclosures.”

Foreclosure Processing and Sales Timelines Hit Record Highs
U.S. properties foreclosed in the third quarter  took an average of 336 days to complete the foreclosure process, up from 318  days in the second quarter and the highest number of days going back to the  first quarter of 2007.

New York properties foreclosed in the third quarter  took an average of 986 days to complete the foreclosure process, the longest of  any state and a record high for the state. The second longest average  foreclosure process was in New Jersey, at 974 days, and the third longest  average foreclosure process was in Florida, at 749 days.

Texas registered the shortest average foreclosure  process of any state, at 86 days, down from 92 days in the second quarter but  still up from 53 days in the third quarter of 2007. Kentucky properties  foreclosed in the third quarter took an average of 94 days to complete the  foreclosure process, the second shortest among the states, and Virginia  properties foreclosed in the third quarter took an average of 102 days to  complete the foreclosure process, the third shortest among the states.

The average time to sell foreclosures also hit a  record high in the third quarter. Properties in the foreclosure process that  sold during the third quarter (usually short sales) took an average of 318 days  to sell after entering the foreclosure process, up from 245 days in the  previous quarter. Bank-owned properties sold in the third quarter took an  average of 193 days to sell after being repossessed by the bank, up from 178  days in the second quarter.

Foreclosure Activity by Type
Default  notices (NOD, LIS) were filed on 195,878 U.S. properties in the third quarter,  up 14 percent from the previous quarter but down 27 percent from the third  quarter of 2010. In September, default notices were filed on 70,710 U.S.  properties, down 10 percent from a nine-month high in August and down 31  percent from September 2010.

Some of the states with the biggest quarterly  increases in default notices included Massachusetts, with a 65 percent  quarter-over-quarter increase; New Jersey, with a 29 percent increase; Florida,  with a 24 percent increase; Ohio, with a 21 percent increase; and California,  also with a 21 percent increase.

Foreclosure  auctions (NTS, NFS) were scheduled for the first time for 217,929 U.S.  properties in the third quarter, down 6 percent from the previous quarter and down  41 percent from the third quarter of 2010. In September, foreclosure auctions  were scheduled for the first time for 79,098 U.S. properties, down 6 percent  from August and down 45 percent from September 2010.

Lenders foreclosed on 196,530 U.S. properties  during the third quarter, a 4 percent decrease from the previous quarter and a  32 percent decrease from the third quarter of 2010. In September, lenders  foreclosed on 65,047 U.S. properties, an increase of less than 1 percent from  August but down 36 percent from September 2010, when REO activity hit a monthly  peak of 102,134 bank  repossessions.

A handful of states posted significant quarterly  increases in REO activity in the third quarter, bucking the national trend.  Those states included Massachusetts, with a 62 percent quarter-over-quarter  increase; Oregon, with a 47 percent increase; Georgia, with a 42 percent  increase; and Illinois, with a 27 percent increase.

Nevada, California, Arizona post top state  foreclosure rates
Nevada posted  the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate — one in every 44 housing units  with a foreclosure filing in the third quarter. Overall Nevada foreclosure  activity decreased from the previous quarter thanks to decreases in scheduled  auctions and REOs, but default notices in Nevada increased 15 percent from the  second quarter to the third quarter — boosted in part by a 16 percent  month-over-month increase in defaults in September.

California default activity also increased on a quarterly basis, and the state documented  the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate — one in every 88 housing units with  a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

One in every 93 Arizona  housing units had a foreclosure filing in the third quarter, the nation’s third  highest state foreclosure rate. Arizona foreclosure  activity dropped 25 percent from the previous quarter and was down nearly  40 percent from the third quarter of 2010.

Other states with  foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 in the third quarter were Georgia,  Florida, Utah, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado.

Top Foreclosure Activity Totals
California’s 153,051  properties with foreclosure filings in the third quarter was the highest total  of any state and accounted for one in every four properties with foreclosure  filings nationwide during the quarter.

Florida accounted for one  in every 9 properties with foreclosure filings nationwide during the third quarter,  with a total of 67,886 — the second highest of any state and an increase of 15  percent from the previous quarter. The quarterly increase was driven by a 24  percent increase in new default notices and a 14 percent increase in bank  repossessions. Despite the quarterly increase, Florida foreclosure  activity in the third quarter was still down 57 percent from the third  quarter of 2010.

A 21 percent quarterly  increase in overall foreclosure activity — caused largely by a 42 percent  increase in REOs — helped Georgia secure the nation’s third highest overall  foreclosure activity total during the third quarter. There were a total of  33,637 Georgia properties with foreclosure filings during the quarter, still  down 18 percent from the third quarter of 2010.

Other states with  foreclosure activity totals among the nation’s 10 highest were Illinois  (32,297), Michigan (31,179), Arizona (29,701), Texas (27,860), Nevada (25,900),  Ohio (24,166) and Colorado (12,918).

Foreclosure Starts Up in 21 of 25 Metros with  Highest Foreclosure Rates
Foreclosure filings initiating  the foreclosure process (either defaults or scheduled auctions, depending on  the state foreclosure process) increased on a quarterly basis in the third  quarter in 21 of the 25 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates among  metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more.

The only top 20 metro  areas where foreclosure starts decreased from the previous quarter were the  Arizona cities of Phoenix and Prescott, along with Greeley, Colo., and Boise,  Idaho.

California cities  accounted for 15 of the top 25 metro foreclosure rates, led by  Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 2, with one in every 51 housing units with a  foreclosure filing during the third quarter. Not far behind were Stockton at  No. 3 (one in 52 housing units), Modesto at No. 4 (one in 53 housing units),  and Riverside-San Bernardino at No. 5 (one in 56 housing units).

Nevada cities accounted  for two of the top 25 metro foreclosure rates, led by Las Vegas at No. 1, with  one in every 39 housing units with a foreclosure filing during the third  quarter. Reno-Sparks, Nev., ranked No. 9, with one in every 67 housing units  with a foreclosure filing.

Two Florida cities also  posted foreclosure rates in the top 25: Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 15, with  one in every 92 housing units with a foreclosure filing in the third quarter;  and Miami at No. 23, with one in every 108 housing units with a foreclosure  filing.

The two remaining cities  in the top 25 were Atlanta at No. 14 (one in every 89 housing units), and  Detroit at No. 22 (one in every 108 housing units).

Report Methodology
The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report  provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one  foreclosure filing entered into the RealtyTrac database during the month and  quarter — broken out by type of filing. Some foreclosure filings entered into  the database during a month or quarter may have been recorded in previous  months or quarters. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide,  and those counties account for more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. 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). For the quarterly report, if more than one foreclosure document is  received for a property during the quarter, only the most recent filing is  counted in the report. Both the quarterly and monthly reports 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 month or quarter.

Report License
The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report is  the result of a proprietary evaluation of information compiled by RealtyTrac;  the report and any of the information in whole or in part can only be quoted,  copied, published, re-published, distributed and/or re-distributed or used in  any manner if the user specifically references RealtyTrac as the source for  said report and/or any of the information set forth within the report.

About RealtyTrac Inc.
RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com) is the leading online  marketplace of foreclosure properties, with more than 2 million default,  auction and bank-owned listings from over 2,200 U.S. counties, along with detailed  property, loan and home sales data. Hosting more than 3 million unique monthly  visitors, RealtyTrac provides innovative technology solutions and practical  education resources to facilitate buying, selling and investing in real estate.  RealtyTrac’s foreclosure data has also been used by the Federal Reserve, FBI,  U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and Banking Committee, U.S. Treasury  Department, and numerous state housing and banking departments to help evaluate  foreclosure trends and address policy issues related to foreclosures.For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, visit our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

###

Michelle Schneider
949.502.8300, ext. 139
michelle.schneider@realtytrac.com

Order Custom Data:
Data Sales Department
800.913.0439
datasales@realtytrac.com