Hampton Roads's foreclosures plunge 45 percent

The number of foreclosure notices sent out in Hampton Roads in November was nearly half what it was a year earlier for the second month in a row, according to a report to be released today.

Lenders issued 635 foreclosure-related notices last month, down 31 percent from the 916 issued in October and 45 percent from the 1,162 reported in November 2010, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure-monitoring service based in Irvine, Calif.

Foreclosures in Hampton Roads have been trending downward almost all year. With the exception of July, foreclosures in the region have been below year-earlier levels since December, a sign that the problem might be easing.

"It looks like we're working through this," said Vinod Agarwal, an economist at Old Dominion University. "If this trend were to continue, it bodes well for the housing market."

In every city in the region last month, notices of bank repossessions and foreclosure auctions fell. The highest number of total notices was in Virginia Beach, while foreclosures were most prevalent in Portsmouth.

Nationwide, foreclosure activity fell as 224,394 properties received notices, down 3 percent from October and 14 percent from a year earlier.

The national data include notices of default, the first stage of foreclosure after a homeowner misses mortgage payments.

RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio attributed part of the national decline to seasonality and cautioned that more foreclosures could be around the corner.

"Scheduled foreclosure auctions reached a nine-month high in November, corresponding to a recent surge in default notices that began back in August," Saccacio said in a news release.

Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com