For this past month of January 2012, Notice of Defaults (initiating the foreclosure process) was up 15.5% from December 2011. Notice of Sale dates (final notice before the house is sold) was down -9.62% from December 2011.
Looking at foreclosure sale outcomes, cancellations of foreclosure sales was down -22.65% (foreclosure sales are cancelled if the homeowner does a work-out with the lender or postpones the sale date). Foreclosure sales to 3rd parties went up 26.89% and houses that went back to the lender/mortgagor went up 9.8%.
The number of homes that are in pre-foreclosure (homeowners who have received a Notice of Default but not a Notice of Sale) was down -9.71%.
Last, the timeframe for foreclosure (time from the Notice of Default to the sale of the home) was down -.40%, meaning that lenders were able to complete the foreclosure process in a quicker timeframe.