RALEIGH – Some cracks are appearing in North Carolina’s housing markets as a new report shows that foreclosures have risen by nearly 60% compared to a year ago. The Triangle’s not immune with the number of cases increasing in both markets.
The latest foreclosure data from ATTOM finds that foreclosures increased by 59.55% between November 2021 and November 2022 with one in every 5,527 housing units in North Carolina experiencing a foreclosure.
That ranked 24th in the nation, but is actually ahead of the national average. Nationwide, one in every 4,580 housing units was in foreclosure.
But there’s a silver lining: foreclosures may have peaked for 2022 as many lenders put a moratorium on foreclosing during the winter holiday season, said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM.
Foreclosures decreased in many places compared to October 2022, he added.
“We may be at or near a peak level of foreclosure activity for 2022,” Sharga said. “While foreclosure starts and foreclosure completions both increased compared to last year’s artificially low levels, they declined from last month.”
Report: North Carolina foreclosure filings up 85% from last year
What’s happening in the Triangle?
Both of the Triangle’s metropolitan statistical areas show even fewer foreclosures per capita than the national and statewide averages, according to the data set reviewed by WRAL TechWire.
In the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical area, one in every 6,000 housing units are experiencing foreclosure, an increase of nearly 187% from a year ago.
But in the region, foreclosures fell by 6.5% compared to the prior month.
And in Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area, there was an even larger month-over-month decrease: 43.41%.
According to the data set, in the Raleigh-Cary metropolitan statistical area, one in every 7,894 housing units is undergoing a foreclosure, an increase of 32.73% year-over-year.
That puts the Raleigh MSA at 179th in the nation when ranked for the number of foreclosures per housing unit, out of 222 geographic regions. Durham-Chapel Hill ranked 135th in the data set.
But one North Carolina market remains in the top 10 on this measure: The Jacksonville metropolitan statistical area ranks 6th with one of every 2,215 housing units undergoing the foreclosure process.
Earlier this year, Wake County foreclosures had increased 425% year-over-year. Statewide, foreclosures increased by 85% in 2021 compared to 2020.
