US foreclosures jump 55% in July

14 August 2008 19:26  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US foreclosure filings in July rose 55% from July 2007, a real estate tracking service said on Thursday.

Foreclosure filings - default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions - were reported on 272,171 US properties during July, an 8% increase from the previous month, reported RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

The report showed one in every 464 US households received a foreclosure filing during the month.

The housing sector is a crucial downstream consuming sector for the chemicals industry. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) estimates that every new home consumes about $16,000 (€10,720) worth of chemicals or chemicals-derived products.

“Bank repossessions, or REOs, continued to be the fastest growing segment of foreclosure activity in July, posting a 184% year-over-year increase - compared to a 53% year-over-year increase in default notices and an 11% year-over-year increase in auction notices,” RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said in a press release.

“The sharp rise in REOs, combined with slow sales, has resulted in a bloated inventory of bank-owned properties for sale,” Saccacio said. “RealtyTrac now has more than three quarters of a million properties in its active REO database, a number that represents approximately 17% of the inventory of existing homes for sale reported in June by the National Association of Realtors.”

Nevada continued to document the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate in July, with one in every 106 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, the tracking service reported.

California reported the highest number of foreclosure filings - 72,285 for the month, up 5% from the previous month and up 85% from July 2007.

Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan also reported high foreclosure activities.

Meanwhile, existing home sales in the US during the second quarter were down 16.3% compared with the second quarter of 2007, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Thursday.

US home builders say they are confident that a new federal aid package will pull the housing market out of its long nose-dive.

To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect
Visit Paul Hodges’ Chemicals and the Economy Blog

By: Brian Ford
+1 713 525 2653

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly