by Calculated Risk on 11/11/2010 08:24:00 AM

From RealtyTrac: Foreclosure Activity Decreases 4 Percent in October

RealtyTrac® ... today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for October 2010, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 332,172 properties in October, a 4 percent decrease from the previous month and almost exactly the same total reported in October 2009. ...

“October marks the 20th consecutive month where over 300,000 U.S. homeowners received a foreclosure notice,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer at RealtyTrac. “The numbers probably would have been higher except for the fallout from the recent 'robo-signing' controversy — which is the most likely reason for the 9 percent monthly drop in REOs we saw from September to October and which may result in further decreases in November."
...
A total of 100,575 U.S. properties received default notices (NOD, LIS) in October, a 2 percent decrease from the previous month and a 19 percent decrease from October 2009 — the ninth straight month where default notices have decreased on a year-over-year basis.
...
Lenders foreclosed on 93,236 U.S. properties in October, down 9 percent from the record high in the previous month but still up 21 percent from October 2009.

The good news is the number of default notices is trending down, although that might pick up again as house prices decline.