Foreclosure starts unexpectedly reversed course and climbed 9.5% in May, according to Black Knight Financial Services, countering an eight-month streak of declines.

The survey found that more than half of these foreclosure starts were repeats, rather than new foreclosures, and almost 80% were on loans from 2008 or earlier.

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“While foreclosure starts did rise over 9% in May, it’s important to remember the historical trend is still one of improvement,” said Kostya Gradushy, Black Knight’s manager of Loan Data and Customer Analytics. “On a year-over-year basis, January through May foreclosure starts were still down 32%, and we are still looking at the lowest level of foreclosure starts in seven years.

“Additionally, over half of these starts are repeat foreclosures, rather than new entries into the pipeline, That is, these are loans that had been in foreclosure, shifted back to either current or delinquent status by way of modification, repayment plan or some action by the borrower, but have now fallen into foreclosure once again,” Gradushy said.

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http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30533-foreclosure-declines-reverse-as-starts-surge-95-in-may