The number of new foreclosure filings in the first quarter stood at their lowest level in more than nine years, RealtyTrac reported.
Nationwide foreclosure filings were reported on 289,116 properties, down 8% from the first quarter of 2015, marking the lowest quarterly total since the fourth quarter of 2006, according to RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.
Moreover, first-quarter activity was below pre-recession levels in 78 out of the 216 metropolitan areas analyzed in the report. Among the metro areas that posted foreclosure activity below pre-recession levels were Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Miami and Atlanta. Metro areas above pre-recession levels include New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C.
Foreclosure filings were also down 4% from the fourth quarter of 2015. Although there was an 11% increase in month-over-month activity from February to March, to the highest level since October 2015, this figure was still down 11% from a year ago.
"Despite a seasonal bump higher in March, foreclosure activity in most markets continues to trend lower and back toward more healthy, stable levels," Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at RealtyTrac, said in a news release.
