The January Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. shows that both foreclosure starts and sales spiked in the first month of 2012, up approximately 28 and 29 percent respectively. While one month of data does not necessarily indicate a trend, this surge could suggest the backlogged foreclosure pipeline is beginning to move. The January data also showed that the percentage of repeat foreclosures hit a new all-time high, with 47 percent of all foreclosure starts falling into that category.

Despite the sharp increase in foreclosure sales, the contrast between judicial and non-judicial foreclosure states remains stark, with sales in non-judicial states outpacing judicial by over three to one. While foreclosure inventories in judicial states still far outweigh those in non-judicial, the recent surge in foreclosure sales is having a significant impact on pipeline ratios. Even in judicial states, the average pipeline ratio is now at 63 months; though still more than twice as high as non-judicial states. This is down from a high of 147 months at its peak in February of 2011.

The January mortgage performance data also showed that new problem loan rates are still relatively low nationally at 1.4 percent. Still, pockets of trouble exist, and the top five states for new seriously delinquent loans in January were Nevada,Florida, Mississippi, Arizona and Georgia, respectively.

As reported in LPS' First Look release, other key results from LPS' latest Mortgage Monitor report include: