U.S. foreclosure activity rises 5 percent in January:
Reuters - Feb 12, 2015
The number of U.S. properties in foreclosure upon rose 5 percent in January, driven by a jump in bank repossessions, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Thursday.
A total of 37,292 homes were repossessed in January, a 15-month high. Overall, 119,888 properties were at some stage of the foreclosure process, still down 4 percent from a year earlier.
The unwinding of distressed housing assets, a multiyear legal process in many states, was gathering pace, RealtyTrac said.
A nationwide increase in scheduled foreclosure auctions in 21 states in January reflected that they were "coming off somewhat artificially low levels last year," RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said in a statement.
