Foreclosures Drop in November

The Treasury and HUD on Tuesday announced that foreclosures dropped significantly during November.
By Philip van Doorn ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Wednesday released the Obama Administration's "Housing Scorecard," saying that foreclosure activity had declined 21% during November, for the largest month-over-month decline since 2005.

Of course, the decline was expected to be temporary, as the largest lenders complete their reviews of mortgage foreclosure processes and restart home seizures.

According to data supplied by SNL Financial, the total unpaid principal balance of loans securing one-to-four family residential properties for which the largest four U.S. bank holding companies had initiated formal foreclosure proceedings as of September 30, was $62.8 billion.

JPMorgan Chase

(JPM) - Get Report

was in the lead with unpaid principal balances of loans securing one-to-four family residential properties in foreclosure of $19.8 billion, followed by

Bank of America

(BAC) - Get Report

with $19.2 billion,

Wells Fargo

(WFC) - Get Report

with $17.5 billion and

Citigroup

(C) - Get Report

with $6.3 billion.

The agencies said that with the expiration of the Homebuyer Tax Credit, home sales had slowed from their pace during the first half of 2010 and that home prices had declined "moderately" during November.

The report also said that 3.9 million "mortgage aid offers were initiated" from April 2009 through October 2010 under various government programs, which was "more than double the number of foreclosure completions during that time."

While the agencies said that the "data in the scorecard also show that the recovery in the housing market continues to remain fragile," they also said "the recovery will take place over time, the Administration remains committed to its efforts to prevent avoidable foreclosures and stabilize the housing market."

--

Written by Philip van Doorn in Jupiter, Fla.

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Philip W. van Doorn is a member of TheStreet's banking and finance team, commenting on industry and regulatory trends. He previously served as the senior analyst for TheStreet.com Ratings, responsible for assigning financial strength ratings to banks and savings and loan institutions. Mr. van Doorn previously served as a loan operations officer at Riverside National Bank in Fort Pierce, Fla., and as a credit analyst at the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, where he monitored banks in New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico. Mr. van Doorn has additional experience in the mutual fund and computer software industries. He holds a bachelor of science in business administration from Long Island University.

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