New York, NY – July 27, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — The New York State Banking Department and RealtyTrac® released New York county-level foreclosure statistics for the second quarter ending June 30, 2009. According to RealtyTrac there were foreclosure filings on 13,664 properties in New York during the second quarter, representing a 15 percent decrease compared to the second quarter of last year and a 24 percent increase over the previous quarter.
While the decrease year over year compares favorably to the national 20 percent increase, the 24 percent increase over the previous quarter is well above the national increase of 11 percent. Still, New York’s overall ranking continued to improve, dropping from 37th at the end of the first quarter to 39th.
Orange County, with 643 foreclosure filings in the second quarter, had an increase of more than 61 percent from the first quarter of 2009. It also had the highest ratio of filings in the state, with one in 208 households with a foreclosure filing in the second quarter. Nearby Rockland and Putnam were also in top five counties based on the ratio of households impacted, with one in 264 and one in 272 homes with a foreclosure filing in the second quarter of 2009. The three counties, home to many New York City commuters, represent the spread of foreclosures outside of the immediate metro areas.
“Quarterly increase trends, such as the ones we are seeing in Orange County, are a strong reminder that the crisis is not over and we must continue to find sustainable, affordable ways to keep families in their homes,” said Richard H. Neiman, Superintendent of Banks for New York. “Without solutions that continue to build on the state’s foreclosure prevention efforts, such as those proposed by Governor Paterson last month, New York may see those numbers increase year to year as well.”
In June, Governor David A. Paterson introduced the 2009 Foreclosure Prevention Bill that would build upon the mortgage lending reform law enacted in 2008 by expanding required protections such as the pre-foreclosure notice and mandatory settlement conferences to include all loans closed before Sept. 1, 2008, not just subprime mortgages. The bill would also expand the scope of counseling and legal services established through a fund created in last year’s budget.
“While New York state overall continues to maintain a relatively low foreclosure rate compared to other states, thanks in part to the state’s foreclosure prevention efforts, there are still local pockets with substantial increases in foreclosure activity,” said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac Senior Vice President. “It’s a positive sign that most New York counties experienced a decrease in foreclosure activity from a year ago, but it would be concerning if the elevated quarter-over-quarter increases we saw in the second quarter continue in the second half of the year.”
Below are some notable findings:
- Compared to the first quarter, in the second quarter the same counties comprised the top ten most impacted by foreclosure filings, although the order among those counties has changed. Queens County, which had dropped to second place in the last quarter, is back in first place, followed closely by Nassau and Suffolk.
- Areas of the state continue to be disproportionately impacted, with the top 20 counties representing 96 percent of total filings in the state. All but five of those counties worsened in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2009.
- Only 25 of the 62 counties in the state saw decreases in foreclosure filings in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of 2009.
- Nassau County saw a sharp increase of 95 percent when compared to the number of foreclosure filings in the first quarter of 2009. Suffolk County remained relatively flat with a decrease of almost two percent.
The following tables with second quarter 2009 data are accessible on the Banking Department Web site:
- Top twenty counties in New York for foreclosure filings
- Foreclosure filings alphabetically by county for all 62 counties
- Foreclosure filings by percentage of filings for all 62 counties
About the Banking Department
TheNew York State Banking Department is the regulator for all state-chartered banking institutions, virtually all of the United States offices of international banking institutions, all of the State’s mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, check cashers, money transmitters and budget planners. The aggregate assets of the depository institutions supervised by the Banking Department are more than $2.2 trillion. In addition to regulating banking institutions, the Banking Department is active in informing and educating all New Yorkers on banking matters. To contact the Banking Department, please call 1-877-BANK-NYS or visit our Web site at www.banking.state.ny.us.
About RealtyTrac®
RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com) is the leading online marketplace of foreclosure properties, with more than 1.5 million default, auction and bank-owned listings from over 2,200 U.S. counties, along with detailed property, loan and home sales data. Hosting more than 3 million unique monthly visitors, RealtyTrac provides innovative technology solutions and practical education resources to facilitate buying, selling and investing in real estate. RealtyTrac’s foreclosure data has also been used by the Federal Reserve, FBI, U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and Banking Committee, U.S. Treasury Department, and numerous state housing and banking departments to help evaluate foreclosure trends and address policy issues related to foreclosures.
