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Foreclosure Filings Fall In January

Decrease Of More Than 25 Percent From December Total

Kenenth R. Gosselin

February 10, 2011

Connecticut residential properties with active foreclosure filings fell more than 25 percent in January compared with the previous month, according to a report released Thursday, but it remains unclear whether the ranks of troubled borrowers are thinning out.

Properties with foreclosure filings in the state totaled 837 in January, down from 1,120 the previous month, according to the report from RealtyTrac, the foreclosure tracking firm, which is releasing its national and state-by-state monthly report.

Connecticut's deep decline compares with a 1.4 percent increase nationwide for the same period.

Last month's total was a sharp 62 percent lower than the number of properties with active filings in January 2010.

Connecticut has now seen six straight months of year-over-year monthly declines in filing activity, but month-to-month activity has been up and down, with no clear pattern emerging. For all of 2010, Connecticut properties with filings rose 10 percent compared with 2009.

While Connecticut's decline in January and the modest increase nationally may appear as signs of recovery in the housing market, RealtyTrac said that may not necessarily be the case.

"Unfortunately this is less a sign of a robust housing recovery and more a sign that lenders have become bogged down in reviewing procedures, resubmitting paperwork and formulating legal arguments related to accusations of improper foreclosure processing," said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive.

Connecticut had one property with a filing for every 1,727 households in January, ranking it the 39th highest. That compares with one property for every 1,288 households in December.

Nevada ranked the highest with one property in foreclosure for every 93 households in January, while Vermont was the lowest, at one property for every 14,964 households. The nation had one property with a filing for every 497 households.