Clark County foreclosure filings up 8.3 percent in July from June

Foreclosure filings in Clark County ticked up in July from the previous month, although they remain far below levels prior to Nevada's robo-signing law that took effect last year, keeping foreclosure inventory tight in Las Vegas.

Notice of default filings - the first step in the foreclosure process - increased to 1,387 in July, up 8.3 percent from June, ForeclosureRadar online listing service reported Thursday. However, they're down 61.6 percent from 3,617 NOD filings in July 2011.

Notices of trustee sale fell to 1,011 in July, down 16.7 percent from the previous month and down 70.1 percent from a year ago. Slightly under 3,000 homes are scheduled for sale, compared with a high of 15,720 in December 2010.

Statistics for Las Vegas continue down the same path, with fewer homes going into the foreclosure process, said Sean O'Toole, chief executive officer of Discovery Bay, Calif.-based ForeclosureRadar.

"While we are as curious as anyone to see the direction foreclosures are headed each month, it is important to keep things in context," he said. "What's important is the bigger picture."

Nevada has seen a dramatic decline in foreclosure notices since October when Assembly Bill 284 became law, requiring lenders to provide documentation of authority to foreclose.

What's more, the time it takes for banks to foreclose has increased 45 percent to 474 days in July from 328 days a year ago.

O'Toole said it's not unusual to see foreclosure notices and sales go up or down 10 percent or more each month due to the length of the month, holidays or internal delays with the lender or servicer.

Foreclosure inventories have steadily trended downward in Clark County. Pre-foreclosure inventory, or homes where the owners have received a notice of default but have not yet received a notice of trustee sale, stood at 15,747 in July, down 51 percent from a year ago.

Real estate-owned inventory, or properties that have gone back to the bank through trustee sale, fell to 4,521 in July, compared with 13,281 a year ago.

Nationwide, sales of bank-owned homes and those already on the foreclosure path fell sharply in the second quarter, according to foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc.

As of July, there were 1.47 million U.S. homes in some stage of the foreclosure process or owned by banks. Of the 620,751 in lenders' possession, only about 15 percent are listed for sale, according to RealtyTrac.

The measured approach has triggered bidding wars and led to higher prices in markets like Las Vegas, where the inventory of bank-owned homes sank to a 6.2-month supply in June.

The average winning bid received on homes sold at auction in July was $187,000, compared with $173,000 a year ago, ForeclosureRadar reported. This represents the amount paid by the bank or a third party. The published bid, typically the amount listed in the notice of trustee sale, was $285,000, and the opening bid was $174,000.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.