Foreclosure activity increases eight percent in JanuaryMortgagePress.comdefault notices, auction sale notices, bank repossessions
RealtyTrac released its
January 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows
foreclosure filings (default notices, auction sale notices and bank
repossessions) were reported on 233,001 properties during the
month, an increase of eight percent from the previous month and an
increase of nearly 57 percent from January 2007.
"January's foreclosure numbers demonstrate that foreclosure
activity is continuing on its upward trend, substantially
increasing from a year ago in many states," said James J. Saccacio,
chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "However, the eight percent
monthly increase in January is not as precipitous as the 19 percent
spike we saw in January of 2007, and several key states actually
experienced decreasing foreclosure activity from the previous
month. It could be that some of the efforts on the part of lenders
and the government, both at the state and federal level, are
beginning to take effect. The big question is whether those efforts
are truly helping homeowners avoid foreclosure in the long-term or
if they are just temporarily forestalling the inevitable for many
beleaguered borrowers."
Nevada, California, Florida post top state foreclosure
rates
Despite a month-over-month drop in foreclosure activity, Nevada
continued to document the highest foreclosure rate among the 50
states. Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 6,087
Nevada properties during the month—a 45 percent decrease from
the previous month, but still a 95 percent increase from January
2007.
California's January foreclosure rate ranked second highest among
the states and Florida's January foreclosure rate ranked third
highest. Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the top
10 were Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Georgia, Connecticut,
Ohio and Michigan.
California, Florida, Texas report highest foreclosure
totals
Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 57,158 properties
in California in January—this was the most of any state. The
state's foreclosure activity was up seven percent from the previous
month and up 120 percent from January 2007.
Despite a three percent month-over-month decrease in foreclosure
activity, Florida's total of 30,178 properties with at least one
foreclosure filing was the nation's second highest state total. The
state's foreclosure activity was up nearly 158 percent from January
2007.
The nation's third highest January total was in Texas, where
foreclosure filings were reported on 14,698 properties—an
increase of nearly 20 percent from the previous month, but a slight
decrease from January 2007. The state's monthly foreclosure rate
was below the national average and ranked number 13 among the
states.
Ohio, Michigan and Georgia all documented totals of more than
10,000 properties with foreclosure filings reported in January.
Other states in the top 10 in terms of total properties with
foreclosure filings reported were Arizona, Massachusetts, Illinois
and Colorado.
California and Florida cities dominate top metro
foreclosure rates
California and Florida metro areas accounted for eight of the top
10 metro foreclosure rates in January. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers,
Fla. metro area documented the highest January foreclosure rate
among the 229 metro areas tracked in the report. The other Florida
metro area in the top 10 was Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce, which
ranked number 10.
The Stockton, Calif. metro area documented the second highest metro
foreclosure rate. Other California metro areas in the top 10 were
Riverside-San Bernardino at number three, Modesto at number four,
Merced at number five, Vallejo-Fairfield at number seven and
Bakersfield at number nine.
Other cities in the top 10 were Las Vegas, Nev. at number six and
Greeley, Colo. at number eight.
For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com.
