In the wake of the 2007-2010 financial crisis foreclosure filings skyrocketed. But after hitting a peak of 2.9 million filings in 2010, the overall foreclosure filing rate dropped to just 1.3 million in 2013.

2013 saw foreclosure filings levied against just over 1 percent of all U.S. properties. Though this represents a significant drop from the highs in 2010 – which saw the same statistic at 2.23 percent – the falling rate of foreclosure was not felt evenly across all states. For example, in New York and New Jersey the foreclosure filing rates jumped 34 and 44 percent respectively over their 2012 rates. In Maryland, 2013 saw 117 percent more foreclosures than 2012.

The effect of foreclosures on the U.S. economy has been enormous. According to RealtyTrac there were 10.9 million properties affected by foreclosure filings since the financial crisis began several years ago. At least 5.6 million of those properties were repossessed. 2012 saw a large number of foreclosures due the fact that the foreclosure process had been halted by judicial action in 2010 and 2011, a process which was reinitiated after a February 2012 settlement involving the banks and multiple states. After the $26 billion settlement was agreed upon banks were able to continue with their foreclosure activities, causing a large amount of foreclosures to hit the market in that year.

The one silver lining for investors is that RealtyTrac predicts that a great number of homes which are currently in the foreclosure process will be processed and sold in 2014.

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