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 A total of 597,589 properties were at some stage of the foreclosure
process from January to June, said RealtyTrac, which tracks housing
market trends.
Foreclosure activity, which includes foreclosure notices, scheduled
auctions and bank repossessions, were down 13 percent from the
second half of last year and down 3 percent from the same period of
2014.
Foreclosure starts fell 4 percent to 304,439 in the first half of
this year, the lowest since RealtyTrac started tracking the data in
2006.
"U.S. foreclosure starts have not only returned to pre-housing
crisis levels, they have fallen well below those pre-crisis levels
and are still searching for a floor," said Daren Blomquist,
RealtyTrac vice president.
Overall, 19 states, including California, Florida and Arizona saw
foreclosure activity below or at the same level as 2006, before the
economic crisis hit.
In June alone, 117,055 properties were at some stage in the
foreclosure process, down 8 percent from the prior month, but up 9
percent from June 2014.
Lenders repossessed 36,503 homes in June, down 19 percent from May
but up 36 percent from a year ago. June was the fourth straight
month of annual increases in bank repossessions, which remained far
below the peak in September 2013, when lenders reclaimed 102,134
properties.
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Foreclosure starts fell 4 percent to 49,105 in June, but were up 4
percent from the same period last year, RealtyTrac said.
Atlantic City, New Jersey's financially distressed gambling hub,
experienced the top metro foreclosure rate in the first half, with a
foreclosure filing for 1.70 percent of housing units, or one in
every 59.
(Reporting by Elvina Nawaguna, additional reporting by Hilary Russ;
Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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