Fewer homes are falling into foreclosure, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Thursday.
The percentage of homes that entered some stage of foreclosure in the third quarter fell to 13.52 percent compared to 14.42 percent in the second quarter in part because of state and federal investigations into procedural errors, the bankers said.
Mortgages more than three months overdue also fell during the third quarter to 8.7 percent of all loans, down from 9.11 percent in the second quarter.
The bankers say it is too early to know whether this represents a positive trend because once the foreclosure investigations grind to a halt, foreclosure activity will pick up.
Elizabeth Duke, a Federal Reserve Board governor, testified that the Fed expected about 2.25 million foreclosure filings this year and in 2011, and 2 million in 2012. “They will remain extremely high by historical standards,” Duke said in a prepared statement.
Source: The New York Times, David Streitfeld (11/18/2010)