New foreclosure filings plunge in the Tampa Bay area

New foreclosure filings have plunged in the Tampa Bay area. The number of foreclosure cases started in the first three months of this year was 844, nearly 40 percent fewer than at the same time last year, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.

Nationally, new foreclosure filings dropped 10 percent, the 11th consecutive quarter with a year-over-year decrease. An analysis showed that 45 percent of loans currently in some stage of foreclosure originated between 2004 and 2008.

"Less than half of all active foreclosures are now tied to loans originated during the last housing bubble… showing that the U.S. housing market has mostly cleared out the backlog of bad loans that triggered the housing and financial crisis nearly a decade ago," said Daren Blomquist, ATTOM's senior vice president.

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