Foreclosure filings, auctions and repossessions of 214,927 properties displays a 2 percent decrease from April, and a 33 percent drop from May 2010, according to RealtyTrac.


“This pattern provides evidence that lenders are somewhat unevenly pushing batches of bad loans through foreclosure as they overhaul their paperwork and documentation procedures and as they determine that some local markets are able to absorb more foreclosure inventory,” said RealtyTrac CEO, James Saccacio, to Housing Wire.

Currently, the handling of short sales has been better than the handling of REO properties, according to Bank of America.

Housing Wire adds that repossessions have increased since last month in Georgia (79 percent), Virginia (36 percent), and Michigan (19 percent); nationally, repossessions have slowed, but unsold inventory continues to carry a heavy burden on the market, increasing in April and May.

“Even at a significantly lower level than a year ago, the new supply of REOs exceeds the amount being sold each month,” said Saccacio in the article.

Auctions increased since April in Oklahoma (86 percent), Maryland (56 percent) and Illinois (47 percent). Michigan continues to be among the hardest hit areas, with foreclosure filings more than doubling in Flint, Michigan.

Despite survey results from Trulia and RealtyTrac, RealtyTrac Senior Vice President Rick Sharga now says that “because of this inventory, a housing recovery could remain elusive until 2015.”