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Foreclosures up more than 55 percent in first half of 2007MortgagePress.com2007 U.S. foreclosures
RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties,
released its mid-year 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which
shows a total of 925,986 foreclosure filings—default notices,
auction sale notices and bank repossessions—were reported on
573,397 properties nationwide during the first six months of the
year, up more than 30 percent from the previous six-month period
and up more than 55 percent from the first six months of 2006. The
report also shows a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for
every 134 U.S. households for the first half of the year.
"Despite a slight drop in June, foreclosure activity shows no
sign of slowing down," noted James J. Saccacio, chief executive
officer of RealtyTrac. "Based on the rate of foreclosure activity
in the first half of 2007, we could easily surpass 2 million
foreclosure filings by the end of the year, which would represent a
year-over-year increase of over 65 percent."
Nevada posted the nation's highest foreclosure rate, with one
foreclosure filing for every 40 households during the first half of
2007. The state reported a total of 25,208 foreclosure filings on
14,687 properties, more than double the number of foreclosure
filings reported in the previous six-month period and nearly triple
the number reported in the first half of 2006.
Colorado reported one foreclosure filing for every 60 households
during the first half of 2007, the nation's second highest state
foreclosure rate. The state reported a total of 34,287 foreclosure
filings on 19,411 properties, a 15 percent increase from the
previous six-month period and a 38 percent increase from the first
six months of 2006.
With one foreclosure filing for every 69 households during the
first half of 2007, California registered the nation's third
highest state foreclosure rate. The state reported a total of
189,560 foreclosure filings on 104,572 properties, up 122 percent
from the previous six-month period and up 232 percent from the
first half of 2006.
Other states with foreclosure rates among the top 10 included
Michigan, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Arizona, Connecticut and
Indiana.
California's foreclosure filing total and unique property count
were both highest among all the states in the first half of 2007.
Florida reported the second highest totals, with 102,213
foreclosure filings on 64,250 properties. Florida's foreclosure
rate—one foreclosure filing for every 81
households—ranked fifth highest among all the states.
Texas reported 69,471 foreclosure filings in the first half of
2007—the nation's third highest foreclosure filing total. But
the state's unique property count of 41,592 came in fourth place
behind Ohio's 44,594. Ohio reported 60,728 total foreclosure
filings, the fourth most of any state. Other states with
foreclosure filing totals among the nation's 10 highest were
Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Colorado, New Jersey and Arizona.
The new unique property count is an addition to the RealtyTrac
U.S. Foreclosure Market Report and presents the number of unique
property addresses with some type of foreclosure action filed
against them during the six-month period. This new metric counts a
property only once, even if there were multiple foreclosure filings
against the property during the report period. RealtyTrac will
issue this count four times a year, including a mid-year and annual
report.
"The addition of this metric to our foreclosure report was
spurred by a data request for unique property addresses from the
Federal Reserve Bank, which is using our data for market and risk
analysis, and we believe it will serve as a valuable complement to
the total foreclosure filing count that we have been including all
along," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing.
"It's interesting to note that the total foreclosure filings and
unique property counts reveal almost identical trends on the
national level: foreclosure filings are up 39 percent from the
previous six months and 56 percent from the first half of 2006;
unique property counts are up 32 percent from the previous six
months and up 58 percent from the first half of 2006."
The consistency is similar at the state level—where the
same five states have the highest numbers of households in
foreclosure and foreclosure filings, and the same six states have
the highest percentages of both foreclosure filings per household
and percentage of households in the foreclosure process. "The
bottom line," Sharga noted, "is that no matter how you
count—by individual households or by the total number of
foreclosure filings—foreclosure activity is up significantly
in 2007. We hope that by providing both the total amount of
foreclosure activity and the number of households involved, we're
providing information that legislators, regulators, lenders,
homebuyers and sellers can use to make intelligent and informed
decisions."
For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com.
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