Process period for foreclosures lengthening

Nevada default notices remained flat in June, while the average number of days it takes to foreclose on a home increased to 319 days, up from 239 days a year ago, ForeclosureRadar.com reported Wednesday.

California saw the second-highest increase in average time to foreclose at 317 days, up from 261 days a year ago, the Discovery Bay, Calif.-based foreclosure tracking firm reported.

While the foreclosure process has increased year over year, it's shorter than it was a month ago, ForeclosureRadar Chief Operating Officer Mark Skilling said.

That does not signal an end to lenders looking to avoid losses through the "extend-and-pretend" policy that's been in place for a while, he said.

"I'd only say that, to the extent that your borrower is delinquent on their mortgage, it's not quite as likely that foreclosure will be initiated or a foreclosure sale will take place," Skilling said Wednesday. "Beyond that, I don't really see it as good news, just a further indicator of lenders simply trickling out foreclosures in order to avoid losses on their balance sheets."

Foreclosure filings were down in all five states covered by ForeclosureRadar in June. Trustee sales back to the bank and to third parties were down everywhere except Oregon.

Notices of default in Nevada are at their lowest level since ForeclosureRadar began tracking them in August 2009. Trustee-sale filings fell 7.2 percent to the lowest level in 15 months.

In Clark County, 3,528 notices of default were filed in June, down 0.3 percent from 3,539 in the previous month and down 38.2 percent from 5,707 filings a year ago, ForeclosureRadar reported.

Notices of sale dropped to 4,203 in June, a 5.3 percent decrease from the previous month and 15.9 percent decrease from the same month a year earlier.

Foreclosure outcome activity slowed with 2,023 sales back to the bank and 670 sales to third parties, down 27 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively, from May. They remain 3.5 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively, above year-ago levels. Cancellations dropped 5.2 percent to 1,831.

Time to resell for third parties declined to 98 days, and for banks it was 187 days.

David Brownell of Keller Williams Realty in Las Vegas reported 2,086 real estate-owned, or bank-owned, closings in June, a 35 percent increase from a year ago. He showed REO inventory at 3,254 in June, or 24 percent of the total inventory of 13,697. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported total single-family inventory of 22,702 in June, though half of those listings are contingent or pending sale. That includes REO listings.

"Certainly, we can see that the lag or delay in inventory coming to the marketplace caused by the robo-signing hiccup has come to an end," Brownell said.

The "lost seller," one with equity in the home, has been making a comeback, he said. Investors who buy homes at trustee auctions, renovate them and then bring them back to the market comprise a big part of those sellers. More than 90 percent of the closings were under $250,000, with only five sales over $1 million.

Skilling said there's no single answer for why banks are taking longer to foreclose on homes than a year ago.

"There's not an abundance of inventory, at least in terms of quality product. There's REOs out there standing around, but they're not very attractive," he said. "Investors fix them up and put them back on the market. Banks don't do that as well."

Lenders are not motivated to foreclose because they have to absorb those losses on their balance sheets, Skilling said.

"They can't afford to do that with all of their collateralized properties. They'd be insolvent," he said.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.