January was an active month in the world of home foreclosures all across the country. The national trend saw an encouraging decrease in the number of completed foreclosures, but at the same time many individual states saw their foreclosure numbers increase dramatically. Maryland in particular had one of the highest numbers of foreclosures in the country, ranking third behind only Florida and Nevada. The state saw almost 4,400 foreclosure filings during January, which represents a 98 percent year-over-year increase compared to the national trend that saw an 18 percent decline during the 12 months between January 2013 and 2014.

One of the main reasons for the surge in foreclosures is that many banks have begun aggressively tending to their backlog of loans. Foreclosure proceedings had been slowed down due to the judicial process in Maryland as well as widespread litigation brought by borrowers against lenders. One particular area in Maryland experienced a nearly 120 percent increase in the number of foreclosure filings during January, representing one out of every 492 homes. Baltimore City’s housing market is largely made up of foreclosed homes. It is estimated that about 32 percent of all home sales in that city during the month of January came from homes in some level of foreclosure.

All of this points to a housing market that is still recovering from the economic recession that hit in 2008. Nevertheless, based on the state’s 10 percent decrease in foreclosure filings between December and January officials at Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development expect to see a decline in foreclosure filings during the months ahead. There is a significant inventory of delinquent loans throughout the state of Maryland and lenders will be looking to reduce that inventory as much as possible. Therefore, expect to see moderation in foreclosures in the near future.

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