California December 2013 Notices of Default Up 12 Percent Still Near Lowest Levels Since 2007

California foreclosures - Notices of Default, Notices of Trustee Sale, and Foreclosure Sales - remain near their lowest levels in our records dating back to January 2007.

California Notices of Default gained 11.9 percent in December, recovering some November's 32.0 percent decline. Despite the December gain, Notices of Default are down 44.0 percent in the past 12 months. Notices of Trustee Sale fell 9.9 percent in December and are down 59.3 percent for the year. Foreclosure sales gained 10.4 percent for the month but fell 53.5 percent for the year.

Splitting December foreclosure sales into their respective components - Sold to Third Party and Back to Bank (REO) - Sold to Third Party sales climbed 7.7 percent in December but are down 61.2 percent over the past 12 months. Similarly, REOs were up 11.7 percent in December but are down 47.6 percent for the year.

In December 2013, foreclosure inventories - Preforeclosure, Scheduled for Trustee Sale, and Bank Owned (REO) - were at or near pre-housing crisis levels.  Bank Owned (REO) inventory was nearly unchanged for the month and has trended mostly sideways since August 2013.  Meanwhile, Preforeclosure inventory declined 2.4 percent, and Scheduled for Trustee Sale inventory fell 6.9 percent. In the past 12 months, Bank Owned (REO) inventory is down 29.6 percent, while Preforeclosure and Scheduled for Trustee Sale inventories fell 33.0 and 67.8 percent, respectively.

Our Take

December's foreclosures were largely being driven by seasonal factors.  We expect foreclosures to keep declining through January then likely increase in February as seasonal factors retreat.  Taking a longer-term view, foreclosures are at or below pre-housing crisis levels reflecting the gradual recovery in the California real estate market and the numerous government programs for homeowners facing default.

December Foreclosure Stats & Trends, by State

For a complete summary of December foreclosure stats and trends for California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, please click on the following links:

Note: The numbers in parentheses indicate over-the-month changes.

‍California foreclosure stats and trends

‍Foreclosure starts: 6,408 (+11.9%)

Foreclosure sales: 2,796 (+10.4%)

Foreclosure Inventories: 41,842 (-0.4%)

‍Arizona foreclosure stats and trends

‍Foreclosure Notices:  2,194 (+7.1%)

Foreclosure sales:  1,179 (+5.5%)

Foreclosure Inventories: 11,773 (+0.3%)

‍Nevada foreclosure stats and trends

‍Foreclosure starts: 759 (-6.4%)

Foreclosure sales:  577 (+31.1%)

Foreclosure Inventories: 4,625 (+1.5%)

‍Oregon foreclosure stats and trends

‍Foreclosure starts:  72 (+7.5%)

Foreclosure sales: 37 (+42.3%)

Foreclosure Inventories: 1,225 (-0.2%)

‍Washington foreclosure stats and trends

‍Foreclosure starts:  1,752 (-1.1%)

Foreclosure sales: 1,023 (+19.0%)

Foreclosure Inventories: 8,517 (+19.7%)

PropertyRadar Methodology

California real estate data presented by PropertyRadar, including analysis, charts, and graphs, is based upon public county records and daily trustee sale (foreclosure auction) results. Items are reported as of the date the event occurred or was recorded with the California county. If a county has not reported complete data by the publication date, we may estimate the missing data, though only if the missing data is believed to be 10 percent or less of all reported data.