2008 Reports Just In
The yearly reports for 2008 are beginning to roll through. The various 2008 foreclosure analyses are looking less like reports and more like statistical conjectures. As Foreclosure Research has reported in the past, every foreclosure listing company has their own set of data and their own data gathering methods. Many times monthly reports show great differences but in light of a year’s synopsis the variance is immense.
One article from Market Watch titled, “U.S. foreclosure filings in 2008 rose 81% from 2007,” offered data from RealtyTrac. According to the article, “A total of nearly 3.16 million foreclosure filings — measured by default notices, auction-sale notices, and bank repossessions — were reported in 2008.” This would make up the category of foreclosure flings, or default notices, not to be confused with actual foreclosures or repossessions.
However, according to a different article, total filings were much less. An article posted by BusinessWeek on January 14, 2009 reported statistics from a different foreclosure listing company, ForeclosureS.com. According to this article, by Chris Palmeri, “the foreclosure process was begun on 2 million during 2008.” Similarly, this comprises all foreclosure notices and filings for the period.
It doesn’t take a math genius to figure out the difference between both foreclosure listing companies is over ONE MILLION properties. Not to mention this would also affect the percentage at which foreclosure fillings grew.
According to an article dated January 29, 2008, from CBS NEWS, “foreclosure flings in 2007 totaled 2.2 million.” If the foreclosure rate from the latter source was in fact correct, then foreclosure flings for 2008 would have actually decreased!
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There are always going to be differences in data based on collection. But the difference highlighted here is actually very misleading. In fact, RealtyTrac — in the very first paragraph of its press release — notes that its data includes multiple filings on the same properties, bringing its total numbers closer to ForeclosureS.com. Why was that part of the sentence not included? For readers, I’ve pasted below the beginnings of the press releases from both RealtyTrac and ForeclosureS.com. Finally, you’re reference to a 2008 statistic on foreclosures from CBS News highlights an important point — while the media doesn’t always compare apples to apples, “experts” should.
As a note of reference, Foreclosureresearch.com is a Foreclosure.com website.
REALTYTRAC
RealtyTrac® (realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows a total of 3,157,806 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 2,330,483 U.S. properties during the year, an 81 percent increase in total properties from 2007 and a 225 percent increase in total properties from 2006. The report also shows that 1.84 percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 54) received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, up from 1.03 percent in 2007.
FORECLOSURES.COM
About 1 million homes were lost to foreclosure in 2008, up nearly 63.5 percent from 2007, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Index from ForeclosureS.com, a leading real estate information provider.
In this first look at complete 2008 statistics, the Index also shows nearly 2.1 million pre-foreclosure filings last year, up nearly 62 percent from 2007. Pre-foreclosure actions can include notice of default and/or foreclosure auction leading up to an actual foreclosure. Full release here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-Foreclosure-Index-US-bw-14055611.html
By Liz Orio
Director of Research
ForeclosureS.com
[...] January 2009 Foreclosure Research reports mixed figures on foreclosure filings and REOs for 2008. According to RealtyTrac there were a total of 3.16 million filings for the year. ForeclosureS.com reported 2 million filings. Read the full post here. [...]
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