Foreclosure Rate Falling In Tulsa!

Tulsa County foreclosures are dropping, but the rate is still among the highest in Oklahoma.
For the seven-county Tulsa metro statistical area, foreclosure filings fell nearly 28 percent in the third quarter, according to information released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc., a leading source for comprehensive housing data.

Metro Tulsa had 1,233 foreclosure filings for the July-to-September period, down from 1,708 in the April-to-June period, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Compared with the 2012 third quarter, foreclosure filings for the metro were down 23.3 percent.

Statewide, foreclosure filings totaled 2,609, down 24.4 percent from the second quarter and 23.4 percent from the same time a year ago.

Tulsa County, likewise, saw its foreclosure filings fall 34 percent for the quarter, and they were down 29 percent from a year earlier.

Even so, out of all counties in the state, Tulsa County had the second-highest rate of home repossessions, with one in every 274 households filing for foreclosure during the quarter. It was surpassed only by Rogers County, which had a foreclosure rate of one for every 224 homes.

The drop in foreclosure filings is similar to what has been seen by Dennis Reecher, a certified consumer counselor with Credit Counseling Centers of Oklahoma Inc. He said that a year ago, he was handling about 30 loan cases, working with servicers to help modify clients' loans, which could take anywhere from six months to a year or longer.

In the last several months, however, his calls have dropped dramatically. That partially may be due to cases now being referred to Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma. But he noted that in many cases people who were in trouble have gotten their mortgages modified, completed short sales, or their homes were proceeding more quickly to sheriff sales where they are auctioned at reduced prices.

"If you look at four years ago, it was incredible the number of people that were in trouble. ... It's just improving over time," Reecher said. "The problems are being worked out, resolved."

Nationwide, September was the 36th consecutive month with an annual decrease in foreclosure activity.

September numbers helped drop third-quarter foreclosure activity to the lowest quarterly level since the second quarter of 2007, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.

Nationwide, a total of 376,931 properties filed for foreclosure in the third quarter, down 6.9 percent from the previous quarter and down 29.1 percent from the same time a year ago — the biggest annual decrease since the second quarter of 2011, according to RealtyTrac.

"The September and third quarter foreclosure numbers show a housing market that is haltingly returning to health. ... While foreclosures are clearly becoming fewer and farther between in most markets, the increasing time it takes to foreclose is holding back a more robust and sustainable recovery," said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac.
More foreclosure information can be found at realtytrac.com