Foreclosure Activity Increases 23 Percent In First Quarter

RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its Q1 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 649,917 properties during the first quarter, a 23 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 112 percent increase from the first quarter of 2007. The report also shows that one in every 194 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1 million properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“Foreclosure activity in the first quarter increased on a year-over-year basis in 46 out of the 50 states and in 90 of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, demonstrating that most regions of the country are seeing more foreclosures,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “In some areas there are also some unusual, non-market factors impacting the foreclosure numbers. For example, the city of Philadelphia in late March issued a temporary moratorium on all foreclosure auctions for April, and the city has since adopted a program that will delay foreclosure proceedings on owner-occupied properties until the owners have met face-to-face with lenders to attempt a loan workout plan that would prevent foreclosure.

“While we’re hopeful that programs like those in Philadelphia will have a positive long-term impact, they could be simply deferring another flood of foreclosures,” Saccacio continued. “And that could extend the length of time it takes the market to recover from this downward cycle, in which we’ve already seen seven consecutive quarters of increasing foreclosure activity.”

Nevada, California, Arizona post top state foreclosure rates

One in every 54 Nevada households received a foreclosure filing during the first quarter, the highest foreclosure rate among the states and 3.6 times the national average. Foreclosure filings were reported on 19,595 Nevada properties during the quarter, up 3 percent from the previous quarter and up 137 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 169,831 California properties during the first quarter, the highest total among the states and a rate of one in every 78 households — the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate. Foreclosure activity in California increased 32 percent from the previous quarter and was up nearly 213 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

Arizona documented the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 95 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Foreclosure filings were reported on 27,404 Arizona properties during the quarter, up 45 percent from the previous quarter and up nearly 245 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 87,893 Florida properties during the first quarter, the second highest state total and giving Florida the nation’s fourth highest foreclosure rate — one in every 97 households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Foreclosure activity in the state was up 17 percent from the previous quarter and up 178 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

Colorado foreclosure activity increased 33 percent from the previous quarter and 78 percent from the first quarter of 2007, and the state’s foreclosure rate ranked No. 5 among the states. Foreclosure filings were reported on 18,996 Colorado properties during the quarter, a rate of one in every 110 households.

Other states with foreclosure rates among the top 10 were Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Top 20 metro areas include Las Vegas, Detroit, Miami, Atlanta, Los Angeles

The Q1 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report also ranks the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas by foreclosure rate. California and Florida metro areas accounted for 13 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates, with the California cities of Stockton and Riverside-San Bernardino taking the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.

One in every 30 Stockton households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter — 6.6 times the national average — and one in every 38 Riverside-San Bernardino households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter — more than five times the national average. Other California metro areas in the top 20 included Bakersfield at No. 4, Sacramento at No. 5, San Diego at No. 9, Oakland at No. 10, Fresno at No. 12, Los Angeles at No. 17 and Orange County at No. 19.

Las Vegas documented the third highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 44 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter. The metro area’s foreclosure activity increased 1 percent from the previous quarter and 134 percent from the first quarter of 2007.

Detroit foreclosure activity in the first quarter decreased 22 percent from the previous quarter and was down almost 4 percent from the first quarter of 2007, but the metro area’s foreclosure rate still ranked No. 6, with one in every 68 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Phoenix foreclosure activity increased 46 percent from the previous quarter and 294 percent from the first quarter of 2007, and the metro area’s foreclosure rate ranked No. 7, with one in every 70 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter.

The highest ranked Florida metro area was Fort Lauderdale, which ranked No. 8 with one in every 73 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Other Florida metro areas in the top 20 included Orlando at No. 13, Miami at No. 14 and Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice at No. 15. The foreclosure rate in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater ranked No. 21.

Other metro areas with foreclosure rates among the top 20 included Denver at No. 11, Atlanta at No. 16, Cleveland at No. 18  and Memphis, Tenn., at No. 20.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the quarter — broken out by type of filing at the state and national level. Data is also available at the individual county level. RealtyTrac’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If more than one foreclosure document is filed against a property during the quarter only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous quarter. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.