Foreclosure notices in metro Atlanta shot up in November to 10,654, the third-highest monthly total for the year, according to the Equity Depot Foreclosure Report.
However, total notices for the year to date are down by more than 15,000 from 2010.
One reason for the November spike is that extra days were in the period covered by the report.
“While we expected a jump attributable to the longer advertising period it was a bit more than expected, a 20 percent increase over last month and the largest total since this past March,” Barry Bramlett, CEO of Equity Depot, said.
The March total for 13 metro counties was just short of February’s 10,848, the year’s peak. Georgia has the nation’s 6th-highest rate of foreclosure notices, auctions and repossessions, according to another firm, RealtyTrac.
A notice is the first step in the foreclosure process. Not all notices end in repossession.
Bramlett said the numbers show “ a large number of historical repeats (when a second or third notice is sent), around 70 percent. This indicates foreclosure actions are only being initiated against the most severe delinquencies.”
Another indicator of the economy: more of the mortgage holders receiving a notice have prime mortgages, as opposed to the sub-prime majority in 2008-2010. Subprime mortgages are made to people who are greater credit risks.
There had been speculation through the summer and September, when the number of foreclosures dropped as low as the 7,000s, that an increase might be coming. The process had been slowed by government investigation of the robo-signing controversy, in which banks were accused of initiating proceedings with improper or illegal paperwork.
Counties that set new highs for the year in November include Cobb with 1,333 notice sent; Douglas with 410; Hall with 332; and Rockdale with 259.
The counties with the most include DeKalb with 1,650; Fulton with 1,935; Gwinnett with 2,099; and Clayton with 908.
Total notices in 2011 to date are 102,094, vs. 117,437 at this time in 2010.
