Property data firm ATTOM Data Solutions has released their 2017 Year-End Report on foreclosure rates in the U.S., and though the numbers paint a pleasant picture of a twelve-year low, New York was one of seven states to show an increase — in fact its highest rate since 2006.
While national total foreclosures dropped to 676,535 — or about 0.51 percent of properties — New York State accounted for 14,517 of those properties, an increase of more than nine percent since 2016.
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ATTOM Data Solutions Senior Vice President Daren Blomquist attributed the increase, at least in part, to “legacy” foreclosures that are only now being finalized:
“There are a few notable local market exceptions playing a different version of foreclosure limbo in which a backlog of legacy foreclosure activity left over from the last housing crisis is still winding its way through a labyrinthine foreclosure process, resulting in incongruous jumps in various stages of foreclosure activity in markets such as New York, New Jersey, and DC.”
New York had the highest number of legacy foreclosures originating between 2004 and 2008, totally 25,886, and comprised five of the eight counties with the highest amount.
Oklahoma, Connecticut, Maine, Louisiana, Vermont, and West Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia also saw a year-over-year increase.
