The number of U.S. homes seized by banks tumbled more than a third in October after loan servicers imposed a moratorium to probe whether repossessions were properly conducted, according to Lender Processing Services Inc.
Banks took over 79,886 homes, down 36 percent from a record 124,051 in September and the lowest number since May 2009, the Jacksonville, Florida-based real estate data company said in a report today.
Lender Processing bases its figures on information collected from loan servicers at the time of foreclosure.Bank-owned homes are among the most affordable real estate and a drop in their numbers may keep some homebuyers out of the market, said Sean O’Toole, chief executive officer of ForeclosureRadar.com, a real estate service in Discovery Bay, California, that tracks foreclosure sales in five western states. Sales of existing homes fell 2.2 percent in October, according to a National Association of Realtors report today.
via Foreclosures of U.S. Homes Fell 36% After Freeze, Lender Processing Says.
