Foreclosure Activity Rises 4% in April: RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its April 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 243,353 properties, a 4 percent increase from the previous month and a nearly 65 percent increase from April 2007. The report also shows one in every 519 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1.5 million properties from over 2,200 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.

"The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we’ve seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "Although only about 2 percent of households nationwide are in foreclosure, these properties contribute to already bloated inventories of homes for sale, and put downward pressure on home values. Areas of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona continue to be particularly hard-hit. Property tax bases are eroding, putting municipal budgets in peril. For example, the city council in Vallejo, California – part of a metropolitan area with a foreclosure rate that ranked sixth highest in the nation in April – last week voted to have the city file for bankruptcy."

Nevada, California, Arizona post top state foreclosure rates
Despite a 5 percent month-over-month decrease in foreclosure activity in April, Nevada continued to document the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate. One in every 146 Nevada households received a foreclosure filing in April, 3.6 times the national average, and the state’s foreclosure activity was up 95 percent from April 2007.

California posted the second highest state foreclosure rate in April, with one in every 204 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Foreclosure filings were reported on 64,683 California properties in April, down less than 1 percent from the previous month but still the most of any state and an increase of 112 percent from April 2007.

Arizona foreclosure activity in April increased 26 percent from the previous month and 181 percent from April 2007, helping to bump the state’s foreclosure rate up to third highest among the states. Foreclosure filings were reported on 11,620 Arizona properties in March, one in every 224 total households. 

With one in every 242 households receiving a foreclosure filing in April, Florida documented the nation’s fourth highest state foreclosure rate. Foreclosure filings were reported on 35,264 Florida properties during the month, the nation’s second highest total. Florida foreclosure activity increased nearly 17 percent on a month-to-month basis and 146 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Colorado foreclosure activity in April was down nearly 3 percent from the previous month and up just 3 percent from April 2007, but the state’s foreclosure rate still registered fifth highest among the states. One in every 349 Colorado households received a foreclosure filing in April, nearly 1.5 times the national average.

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

California, Florida, Ohio report highest foreclosure totals
Foreclosure filings were reported on 11,680 Ohio properties in April, the third highest state total behind California and Florida. Ohio foreclosure activity increased nearly 4 percent from the previous month and more than 2 percent from April 2007. The state’s foreclosure rate continued to rank among the top 10, with one in every 432 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.

With foreclosure filings reported on 11,406 properties in April, Texas reported the fifth highest total, behind Arizona at No. 4. Foreclosure activity in Texas increased nearly 7 percent from the previous month but was down less than 1 percent from April 2007. With one in every 809 Texas households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, the state’s foreclosure rate registered below the national average and ranked No. 17 among the states.

Other states in the top 10 for total properties with filings were Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada and Maryland.

California and Florida cities account for 9 of top 10 metro rates
Six California cities documented foreclosure rates that ranked in the top 10 among the 230 metropolitan areas tracked in the report. Merced took the top spot, with one in every 66 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, followed by Stockton at No. 2, Modesto at No. 3 and Riverside-San Bernardino at No. 4. Other California cities on the list were Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 6 and Bakersfield at No. 8.

Three Florida cities registered foreclosure rates among the top 10: Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 5; Port Lucie-Fort Pierce at No. 9; and Fort Lauderdale at No. 10.

With one in every 116 households received foreclosure filings in April, the Las Vegas metro area documented the nation’s seventh highest metro rate.

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 month — 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 month — which is extremely rare — 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 month. 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.