Home Foreclosures Surge in New Mexico

Foreclosures in New Mexico have surged over the last year. Despite claims that there have been declines in 22 states, other states are laying bare the notion of a "recovery" in housing in the United States., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

May 9, 2013, 2:27pm MDT

NM foreclosure auctions, repos surged in April

Scheduled foreclosure auctions in New Mexico increased 65 percent in April compared to one year ago, the fifth consecutive month with a year-over-year increase, according to data released Thursday by foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac, based in Irvine, Calif.

In addition, bank repossessions increased 242 percent from a year ago, the second consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in the state.

The Albuquerque metro area experienced similar increases. Scheduled foreclosure auctions increased 88 percent from a year ago in the Duke City area, the fifth straight month with an annual increase, and bank repossessions increased 503 percent from a year ago, the second straight month with an annual increase.

“What this suggests is that although the foreclosure problem is not as severe in New Mexico as many other states, mortgage servicers are now pushing through batches of foreclosures delayed by the national mortgage settlement and other foreclosure prevention efforts,” Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said. “This means in the coming months more inventory of foreclosures will be available for sale, which could slow home price appreciation in the short term, but we don’t expect this additional influx of foreclosures to cause a double dip in the housing market.”

RealtyTrac’s data showed that homes in some stage of the foreclosure process in New Mexico decreased significantly in April, compared to last month and one year ago.

However, Blomquist told Albuquerque Business First that the decrease was largely due to a problem in data collection and would be resolved for future reports. The scheduled foreclosure auction and bank repossessions, or Real Estate Owned (REO), data was accurate, he said.

New Mexico is one of 24 states with a judicial foreclosure process, requiring that lenders file a civil lawsuit against homeowners that are in default on mortgages.

Nationally, home foreclosures decreased 5 percent from the previous month and 23 percent from April 2012. Total foreclosure activity in April was at the lowest level since February 2007, according to RealtyTrac.

RealtyTrac reported one in every 905 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing during the month. Despite the nationwide decline, 22 states reported increasing foreclosure starts from the previous month.