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Craven County, North Carolina Court Filings Intelligence

Live court-record analysis of property-related filings (foreclosure, probate, divorce, partition, guardianship). Data sourced direct from Craven County court dockets. Updated 2026-07-20. See methodology.

Investor takeaway

About Craven County

Craven County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,720. Its county seat is New Bern. The county was created in 1705 as Archdale Precinct from the now-extinct Bath County. It was renamed Craven Precinct in 1712 and gained county status in 1739. It is named for William, Earl of Craven, who lived from 1606 to 1697. Craven County is part of the New Bern, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Source: Wikipedia

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At a glance

1576 verified property-related court filings tracked across 25 months (Aug 2020 to Aug 2026).

66 typical monthly filing volume.

0% of filings involve owners whose mailing address differs from the property address (0 of 1576 filings).

$n/a median estimated property value across the 0 filings with property-enrichment data (0% coverage).

3.5% North Carolina unemployment rate (BLS, as of 2026-05). Filings should be read against the local-economy backdrop.

Filing type breakdown

Filing typeFilingsShare
Other 1253 79.5%
Divorce 135 8.6%
Probate 114 7.2%
Pre-Foreclosure 33 2.1%
Real Estate Dispute 21 1.3%
Tax Sale 20 1.3%

Each row is a distinct case verified for current owner-of-record before inclusion.

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Monthly filing activity

MonthFilingsvs prior
Aug 2020 12
Sep 2020 26 +14
Oct 2020 27 +1
Nov 2020 16 -11
Dec 2020 10 -6
Jan 2021 18 +8
Feb 2021 3 -15
Jul 2022 1 -2
Oct 2022 8 +7
Nov 2022 13 +5
Dec 2022 3 -10
Jul 2025 33 +30
Aug 2025 127 +94
Sep 2025 125 -2
Oct 2025 106 -19
Nov 2025 98 -8
Dec 2025 217 +119
Jan 2026 87 -130
Feb 2026 81 -6
Mar 2026 128 +47
Apr 2026 109 -19
May 2026 101 -8
Jun 2026 134 +33
Jul 2026 92 -42
Aug 2026 1 -91

Each row reflects new filings entering the dataset that month, after ownership verification. Most recent month may be partial.

Geographic concentration by ZIP

Top 3 ZIPs in Craven County account for 0.4% of all tracked filings, showing where distressed real estate activity clusters.

ZIPCityFilingsShare
28532 Havelock 3 0.2%
28562 New Bern 2 0.1%
28560 New Bern 1 0.1%

Based on filings with a parseable property address (0% of Craven County filings).

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Property value distribution

Estimated valueFilingsShare

Source: third-party property enrichment (0% coverage on Craven County filings). Median $n/a; mean $n/a.

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Day-of-week filing pattern

DayFilingsShare
Sun 106 6.7%
Mon 341 21.6%
Tue 338 21.4%
Wed 391 24.8%
Thu 273 17.3%
Fri 107 6.8%
Sat 20 1.3%

Filings show some weekend activity, suggesting after-hours electronic filing. Computed for 1576 filings with a parseable date.

Housing stock + distress signals

Underlying housing stock and distress indicators across all 47404 Craven County housing units, from US Census ACS 5-year data. National reference values shown for context.

Indicator Craven County US average
Vacancy rate (incl. seasonal + for-sale)12.5%10.5%
Share of owner-occupied units carrying a mortgage56.4%60.8%
Pre-1940 housing stock4.5%12.3%
Single-family detached share of housing stock69.2%61.2%
Residents age 65 or older20.5%17.3%

Source: US Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS 2023 5-year). National reference values are ACS 2022 5-year US totals. Why these matter: vacancy rate is the strongest single proxy for distressed inventory; mortgage-carrying share defines the risk pool exposed to rate environment; pre-1940 stock signals deferred maintenance and renovation opportunity; senior population correlates with probate pipeline depth.

Rent benchmark (HUD Fair Market Rent)

HUD sets Fair Market Rents at the metro area level — the same FMRs apply to every county within the metro. Craven County sits within the Craven County, NC. Used to set Section 8 voucher amounts; investors use it as a defensible rent-estimate floor for buy-to-rent underwriting.

Unit size Fair market rent / month
Efficiency / studio$897
1-bedroom$902
2-bedroom$1,184
3-bedroom$1,591
4-bedroom$1,988

Source: US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents (None). 40th-percentile gross rent including utilities. Why this matters: Section-8-eligible tenants are a baseline demand floor for rental inventory at these price points; FMR is the official ceiling for voucher-eligible rents.

New construction (market momentum)

Annual building permits filed in Craven County from the US Census Building Permits Survey. Trend signal on whether new housing demand is accelerating or contracting in this market.

Indicator Value
Total housing units permitted (2025)553
Year-over-year change (2024 → 2025)+14.0%
Single-family share of permits (2025)100.0%
Single-family units permitted553
Multifamily units permitted (2+ units per building)0

Source: US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, annual cumulative data. Why this matters: permits trending up signals strong demand for new inventory; permits contracting at the same time foreclosure activity rises indicates broader market softening (deals price differently). Multifamily share shows whether the market is densifying or holding to single-family stock.

Macro context: state home prices and national delinquency

Craven County filings should be read against the broader housing-market backdrop. North Carolina state home-price trend and the national mortgage-delinquency rate are the two macro signals most directly relevant to foreclosure exposure.

IndicatorValuePeriod
North Carolina home price index (year-over-year)+2.4%2026-01-01
North Carolina home price index (cumulative since 2020)+72.0%2026-01-01
National mortgage delinquency rate (30+ day, single-family)1.89%2026-01-01

Sources: Federal Housing Finance Agency state house price indices (FRED series NCSTHPI); Federal Reserve Board, Mortgage Delinquency 30+Day Rate on Single-Family Residential Mortgages (FRED series DRSFRMACBS). Updated quarterly. Free public data.

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Filing velocity by case type

How each distress category is trending — are foreclosures accelerating while divorces cool, or vice versa? This breakdown is only possible with direct court-record data.

Case type Total Share Trend
Other 971 61.6% +4.3%
Lien 282 17.9% +51.5%
Divorce 135 8.6% +65.2%
Probate 114 7.2% -71.4%
Pre-Foreclosure 33 2.1% --
Real Estate Dispute 21 1.3% -11.1%
Tax Sale 20 1.3% --

Trend = recent 2-3 month volume vs prior 2-3 months (current partial month excluded). Positive = accelerating; negative = cooling.

Seasonal filing patterns

Court filings peak in Jun and are lowest in Jul. The 7.9x peak-to-trough ratio suggests strong seasonal patterns — investors who time their outreach around Jun can reach more distressed homeowners.

Month Avg filings Relative
Jan 52.5
39%
Feb 42
31%
Mar 128
96%
Apr 109
81%
May 101
75%
Jun 134
100%
Jul 17
13%
Aug 46.7
35%
Sep 75.5
56%
Oct 47
35%
Nov 42.3
32%
Dec 76.7
57%

Average filings per calendar month across all observed years. Relative column shows each month as a percentage of the peak month (Jun), with a 7.9x peak-to-trough ratio.

ZIP code distress hotspots

Distress is geographically dispersed across 3 ZIP codes, with no single area dominating.

ZIP Area Filings Share
28532 Havelock 3 0.2%
28562 New Bern 2 0.1%
28560 New Bern 1 0.1%

Top 3 of 3 ZIP codes with filings.

Non-resident owner analysis

Most filings (100%) involve owner-occupied properties. The relatively low absentee rate suggests distress is primarily hitting homeowners, not institutional investors.

0.0%
Non-resident owners
Case type Total filings Non-resident %
Other 971 0.0%
Lien 282 0.0%
Divorce 135 0.0%
Probate 114 0.0%
Pre-Foreclosure 33 0.0%
Real Estate Dispute 21 0.0%
Tax Sale 20 0.0%

Non-resident = owner's mailing address differs from the property address. Could indicate out-of-state landlords, inherited estates, second homes, or in-transition properties.

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Distress composition and shifts

Other share is rising. Probate share is declining. Low diversity — distress is dominated by one or two case types, suggesting a concentrated driver.

Case type Recent share Earlier share Shift
Other 69.6% 61.3% +8.3pp (rising)
Lien 14.8% 17.4% -2.6pp
Divorce 10.4% 8.4% +2.0pp
Tax Sale 4.4% 1.0% +3.4pp
Pre-Foreclosure 0.7% 2.1% -1.4pp
Probate 0.0% 8.5% -8.5pp (falling)
Real Estate Dispute 0.0% 1.3% -1.3pp

Distress diversity score: 1.36 (Shannon entropy; higher = more diverse distress sources). "Recent" = last 2 complete months; "Earlier" = all prior months.

Market Absorption & Turnover Analysis

1,575 court filings tracked with 0 resolved (0.0% absorption rate). The court system is accumulating cases faster than they resolve, creating a growing backlog of 1,575 active cases.

0.0%
Absorption Rate
1,575
Active Case Backlog
Month New Filings Resolved Net Inflow Absorption
Aug 2020 12 0 +12
0.0%
Sep 2020 26 0 +26
0.0%
Oct 2020 27 0 +27
0.0%
Nov 2020 16 0 +16
0.0%
Dec 2020 9 0 +9
0.0%
Jan 2021 18 0 +18
0.0%
Feb 2021 3 0 +3
0.0%
Jul 2022 1 0 +1
0.0%
Oct 2022 8 0 +8
0.0%
Nov 2022 13 0 +13
0.0%
Dec 2022 3 0 +3
0.0%
Jul 2025 33 0 +33
0.0%
Aug 2025 127 0 +127
0.0%
Sep 2025 125 0 +125
0.0%
Oct 2025 106 0 +106
0.0%
Nov 2025 98 0 +98
0.0%
Dec 2025 217 0 +217
0.0%
Jan 2026 87 0 +87
0.0%
Feb 2026 81 0 +81
0.0%
Mar 2026 128 0 +128
0.0%
Apr 2026 109 0 +109
0.0%
May 2026 101 0 +101
0.0%
Jun 2026 134 0 +134
0.0%
Jul 2026 92 0 +92
0.0%
Aug 2026 1 0 +1
0.0%

Resolution by Case Type

Case Type Filed Resolved Absorption Avg Days
Other 971 0 0.0% n/a
Lien 282 0 0.0% n/a
Divorce 135 0 0.0% n/a
Probate 114 0 0.0% n/a
Pre-Foreclosure 32 0 0.0% n/a
Real Estate Dispute 21 0 0.0% n/a
Tax Sale 20 0 0.0% n/a

Absorption rate measures the percentage of filed cases that have reached a terminal resolution (judgment, dismissal, settlement, or sale). A low absorption rate indicates a growing backlog of active cases in the court system. Resolution timing based on 0 resolved cases out of 1575 total filings.

Case Aging & Stall Analysis

136 cases (8.6%) have been active for over a year without resolution. 144 filings in the last <30 days represent fresh opportunities.

136
Cases stalled 1yr+
8.6%
of all filings
1,575
Total tracked
Age Total Resolved Still active Resolution rate
<30 days 144 0 144 0.0%
30-90 days 223 0 223 0.0%
3-6 months 314 0 314 0.0%
6-12 months 755 0 755 0.0%
2+ years 136 0 136 0.0%
Resolution speed by case type
Case type Total Resolved Rate Median days
Lien 282 0 0.0%
Divorce 135 0 0.0%
Probate 114 0 0.0%
Pre-Foreclosure 32 0 0.0%
Real Estate Dispute 21 0 0.0%
Tax Sale 20 0 0.0%

Case aging computed from filing date to present for unresolved cases. Resolution classified from court docket entries (judgments, settlements, dismissals, sheriff sales). Cases with a resolution event are removed from the stall count.

Repeat litigation patterns in Craven County

Of 1,323 unique property owners in court filings, 53 (4.0%) appear in multiple cases, including 5 with 3 or more filings. The most active repeat filer has 5 cases. Lien cases have the highest repeat rate at 9.0%.

1,323
Unique owners
53
Repeat filers (2+ cases)
4.0%
Repeat rate
5
Serial filers (3+ cases)

Repeat rate by case type

Case type Repeat owners Total owners Repeat rate
Other 43 900 4.8%
Lien 13 144 9.0%
Divorce 2 135 1.5%

Analysis based on 1,323 unique owner names across court filings. Repeat filers are property owners appearing in 2 or more distinct cases.

Methodology and data sources

Related North Carolina guides

North Carolina foreclosure process How to find leads in North Carolina Top foreclosure counties in North Carolina North Carolina statewide analysis

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Cite: Keystone Court Data, "Craven County North Carolina Court Filings Intelligence," 2026-07-20, https://keystonecourtdata.com/reports/craven-nc-court-filings-intelligence · Download data (CSV)