Based on our more than 20 years of experience
collecting and disseminating real estate and foreclosure information, we have found
that the best and most accurate method to measure foreclosures and foreclosure trends
is based on the number of filings per household. (We use the most recent U.S. Census
data on households in our statistics.)
To further ensure the accuracy of our numbers and not artificially skew foreclosure
numbers, we do not base our foreclosure numbers on a total of all types of notices.
A single property can in some cases, but not always, have up to three notices filed—notice
of default, notice of foreclosure auction, and a trustees deed also known as REO
(when a foreclosure is completed and a property reverts back to the lender as 'real
estate owned').
We believe the number of foreclosures per 100 households is the true indicator of
the weakness (or strength) in the housing markets. As an example, it's been recently
reported that there are "more houses being foreclosed than during the Great
Depression." From strictly a numbers point of view, that's true. But the rest
of the story is that exponentially today there are many more households than there
were during the Depression. To report only the nominal sums and not the household
percentages is misleading in terms of what's actually happening in the market.
*For accurate
foreclosure statistics please send us an
email request or contact Sofia Gutierrez, ForeclosureS.com, 800-310-7730
x190 or sofia@halldinpr.com.
Our foreclosure listings are gathered from public recordings of official documents
as required by each state. Document-type requirements vary by state. (Check
out your state's Foreclosure Laws.) In all cases, a public recording begins
the process—pre-foreclosure listing--and a public recording that changes the
title on the property ends the process--foreclosure/REO listing.
Our pre-foreclosure numbers count each property once (even if there are multiple
loans in default or multiple notices recorded per instance of foreclosure). If a
loan goes in and out of default, however, it's included both times.
We hope our internal statistics and insights of what the data means provide an accurate
tool to help you judge foreclosure trends in your community, state or across the
nation.
To learn more about trends in foreclosures, the economy and the housing industry,
please check our blog. We welcome your
feedback. Please let us know how we can help you further.
For expert commentary from Alexis McGee, president of ForeclosureS.com, please contact
Sofia Gutierrez, ForeclosureS.com, 800-310-7730 x190 or
sofia@halldinpr.com.
Contact Us:
Related Links:
ForeclosureS.com
4112 Crestline Avenue.,
Fair Oaks, CA 95628
* ForeclosureS.com is a growing company. Consequently, we are constantly adding
new counties to our foreclosure listings and statistics. Therefore, when looking
at a timeline comparison of state statistics, we only include the counties where
data was available on both the first and the last month of the comparison. We adjust
both the number of filings and the number of households to increase the accuracy
of the numbers.
