Despite the fact that most foreclosure listing companies reported a nationwide decrease in foreclosures and default filings, the media offered headlines donned with the usual negative perspective.

RealtyTrac seems to be the only major listing company that offered statistics for August. The foreclosure listing company reported a 1 percent decrease in filings with a 13 percent decrease in repossessions. ForeclosureS.com didn’t offer a report for the month presumably because they found an increase in fillings, as they have historically reported larger number of properties in foreclosure.

Here are some of this week’s headlines:

From the Washington Post: “Foreclosure Filings Were Flat in August.”
The Post chose to use the lower valued decrease (1 percent) of filings as opposed to actual repossessions.

From CNNMoney.com: “Foreclosures: The struggle continues.” While the article states the decrease in the 4th paragraph, the major premise was that pre-foreclosures, although also having exhibited a decrease, may continue to creep back.

Los Angeles Business Journal reports: “RealtyTrac: California ranks 3rd in August Foreclosures.” This ranking down from second which should have been stated in the headline as the more important statement.

From the Columbus Business First BizJournal: “Ohio’s August foreclosures nudge up.” This nudge refers to the 3 percent increase from July. July happened to show a 15 percent decrease. In other words a 12 percent decrease since June.

Boston.com reports: “Foreclosures still high, even as economy brightens.” The article does not even mention the 13 percent decrease.

From the Financial Times: “US foreclosure flings remain near record high.” This article also has no mention of the 13 percent decrease in repossessions, only that “foreclosure activity among US properties slipped last month for the first time since May.”

Within the first 15 articles on a Google News search only one article mentions the national decrease. This comes from the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Foreclosures dip from July number.” However, you won’t find the larger decrease of 13 percent until the 9th paragraph.

In order to boost morale the media outlets should put a little more consideration on highlighting the upside of the economic situation.

It looks like RealtyTrac and Foreclosures.com are getting closer to similar reporting results but have yet to get it down to a science. The most recent statistics for Clark County Nevada came to only a 6.5% disparity compared to past differences of up to 100%. While the percent difference was closer than usual, the difference in the total properties varied by 13%.

It’s also getting harder and harder to catch. While RealtyTrac reports foreclosure flings, which include both default notices and REO properties, ForeclosureS.com reports them separately. Also, many times exact figures are not utilized, but rather percentages. Through a few quick calculations and historical research, Foreclosure Research was able to determine exact comparisons.

Here is a snippet from an article published in the Credit Union Times on August 19, 2009:

“Clark County had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate during the first six months of 2009, according to RealtyTrac. In the county, 7.45% of all housing units were in foreclosure. That represents a 56% increase from the same period in 2008. Nationally, 1.6% of all housing units were in foreclosure during the first half of 2009, a 15% increase over the same period last year.”

Foreclosure research was able to calculate the total foreclosures by taking the 7.45 percent of housing units. The total foreclosure for the six month period was 82,127.

The following snippet comes from an article in the Review Journal published on August 9, 2009:

“For the first six months, Clark County foreclosures rose 84.3 percent to 23,588 from 12,800 in the year-ago period, Sacramento, Calif.-based investment advisory firm Foreclosures.com reported. Preforeclosures increased 34.8 percent to 47,467 from 30,922 a year ago.”

Based on these figures, Foreclosures.com reported a total of 71,055 foreclosures/properties for 2009, or an increase of 62.5% compared to Realty Trac’s increase of 56%.

Below you will see the breakdown of those figures. Again, while the difference is not as vast as usual, it still exemplifies that the reports continue to fail in accuracy. Yet, media outlets continue to report all such figures with the utmost confidence.

RealtyTrac
Totals:
2009 (based on 7.45% of housing units in the county): 82,127

Foreclosures.com
January to June 2009:
Clark County foreclosures rose 84.3 percent to 23,588 from 12,800
Preforeclosures increased 34.8 percent to 47,467 from 30,922

Totals:
2008: 43,722
2009: 71,055

62.5% increase

6.5% difference in percent increase
13% difference in totals