Charlotte-area foreclosure activity dropped 46 percent in September from a year ago, for a decline larger than the national rate, a report released Thursday shows.
According to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, default notices, auctions and bank repossessions were reported on 708 properties in the metropolitan area, a 28 percent decrease from August. Nationally, foreclosure filings were reported on 131,232 properties, down 27 percent from a year ago but up 2 percent from August.
Nationwide, foreclosure activity has been falling as a result of fewer troubled loans that borrowers have struggled to pay, Daren Blomquist, vice president for RealtyTrac, told the Observer. Those borrowers have already gone into foreclosure or avoided losing their homes through refinancing their mortgage loans, leading to a drop in foreclosures over time, he said.
“I would say that is the fundamental reason that we’re seeing the foreclosures fade,” he said. “The same reason that we got into the mess is now going away.”
In Mecklenburg County, foreclosure activity fell 43 percent from a year ago and was down 29 percent from August.
But Blomquist said an improving U.S. housing market and tight supplies of homes for sale could motivate banks to push ahead with more home repossessions. Since November, the supply of for-sale homes in the Charlotte region has been below six-months’ worth, a level widely considered to be market equilibrium.