RealtyTrac: Home Repossessions Down In October

New data show lenders repossessed fewer Sacramento area homes in October. But analysts say we may soon see a rebound in bank-owned homes on the market.

RealtyTrac says banks repossessed 235 Sacramento area properties in October. The research firm says that was down nearly five percent from September. And it was a 13 percent decrease from a year ago. But RealtyTrac's Daren Blomquist says things could be turning around soon.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see another bump back up in those bank-owned sales in Sacramento unfortunately," says Blomquist.

He says that's because the data show year-over-year increases in bank repossessions in four of the last five months after a long downward trend in bank repossessions.

"The banks have not listed those properties for the most part yet," says Blomquist. "But probably will be listing them in the next few months."

Blomquist says we could see that share of bank-owned sales go up in the first-quarter of next year as banks list those properties for sale.

Statewide, the data show an increase in the number of California homes that entered the foreclosure process last month. RealtyTrac says there were about 4,600 homes that received a notice of default in October. That was a 21-percent increase from the previous month. Foreclosure completions in October also increased - up 18 percent from September.

Meanwhile, Nevada still has one of the country's highest home foreclosure rates. The state ranks 4th highest in the country behind: Maryland, New Jersey and Florida. RealtyTrac's October data show that bank repossessions alone in Nevada increased by 83-percent from a year ago.

The data show that all stages of the foreclosure process - notices of default, auctions and repossessions - were up annually by one-percent. One-in-every 590 Nevada housing units received some kind of foreclosure filing in October.