Bank repossessions, the final stage of the foreclosure process, fell 9 percent month-to-month and were down 35 percent from a year ago. Still the numbers are on pace for nearly a half a million properties to be repossessed in 2013. That’s an improvement, but still well above normal levels.

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The picture is also mixed geographically – Arkansas (up 143 percent), Oklahoma (up 103 percent), Maryland (up 74 percent), Washington (up 71 percent), New Jersey (up 33 percent), and New York (up 21 percent) –as states that require a judge in the foreclosure process as well as those with new laws protecting borrowers, are seeing a spike in repossessions.

“The increases in judicial foreclosure auctions demonstrate that these delayed foreclosure cases are now being moved more quickly through to foreclosure completion,” notes RealtyTrac’s Daren Blomquist in the report.

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“Given the rising home prices in most of these markets, it is an opportune time for lenders to dispose of these distressed properties, either at the foreclosure auction to a third-party buyer, or by repossessing the property at the auction and subsequently selling it as a bank-owned home.”

Judicial foreclosure auctions were up 34 percent from June of 2012, as Realtors report “brisk” sales of these distressed properties. Investors and regular buyers have been competing for a decreasing supply of properties. Nationwide, inventories of all homes are down dramatically, as a large number of underwater borrowers and borrowers with very little home equity are still unable to sell.

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Florida, Nevada, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia posted the top five state foreclosure rates for the first half of the year, according to RealtyTrac.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100877414

“Markets with increasing foreclosure activity in 2012 took the first step in finally purging delayed distress left over from the bursting housing bubble,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Meanwhile, the underlying fundamentals in many of those markets are slowly improving, making it an opportune time to absorb additional foreclosure inventory this year — and that is particularly good news for buyers and investors hungry for more inventory to purchase in those markets.”

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RealtyTrac ranked the top markets for investors to set their sights in 2013, based on months’ supply of foreclosure inventory, percentage of foreclosure sales, the foreclosure discount and the percentage increase in foreclosure activity in 2012. Five of the top ten are in Florida, including Palm Bay, Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando. Florida requires a judge in the foreclosure process and therefore has an extremely large backlog.

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New York, another judicial state, fills 4 of the top ten spots, with Rochester, Albany and the New York City area leading. Chicago rounds out the roster.

The worst markets to look for foreclosures are largely out West, where the foreclosure crisis hit first and where investors have already bought so many properties that they are now fighting for what is left. Low supplies have led to bidding wars in cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Jose, CA and even Portland, OR.

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It is truly a tale of east versus west, just as it was at the start of the foreclosure crisis with the west faring far worse than the rest of the nation. Now it is just the opposite, as demand for distressed properties continues to increase and supply determines the best bargain destinations.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100423428