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August Foreclosures Up 115% Over Last Year

Nevada, California, Florida the Foreclosure Big 3

September 18, 2007

In its monthly report, RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosed properties, said August was the busiest month since it began issuing a monthly report in January 2005.

According to the numbers, the national foreclosure rate amounted to one foreclosure filing for every 510 households - the highest figure ever issued in the report.

The findings echo a report earlier this month from the Mortgage Bankers' Association (MBA), which found that incidents of foreclosure for the second quarter of 2007 were at their highest rates in the organization's 55-year history.

The MBA report found that homes entering foreclosure were at 0.65 percent of all outstanding loans, an increase from the previous high of 0.58 percent for the first quarter of 2007.

“The jump in foreclosure filings this month might be the beginning of the next wave of increased foreclosure activity, as a large number of subprime adjustable rate loans are beginning to reset now,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

“Another significant factor in the increased level of foreclosure activity is that the number of REO filings (bank repossessions) is increasing dramatically, which means that a greater percentage of homes entering foreclosure are going back to the banks.”

Big 3

Nevada, California and Florida were the top three states for foreclosures.

Nevada continued to register the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate, one foreclosure filing for every 165 households — more than three times the national average.

The state reported 6,197 foreclosure filings during the month, a 21 percent increase from the previous month and more than triple the number reported in August 2006.

California’s foreclosure rate jumped to second highest among the states thanks to a 48 percent month-over-month spike in foreclosure activity. The state reported 57,875 foreclosure filings during the month, a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 224 households — more than twice the national average.

Florida foreclosure activity jumped 77 percent from the previous month, boosting the state’s foreclosure rate from seventh highest to third highest among the states. The state reported 33,932 foreclosure filings, a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 243 households.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s 10 highest were Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Indiana.

Sun Belt, Rust Belt

Seven of the top 10 states in terms of total foreclosure filings in August were located in the Sun Belt, and three of the top 10 states were in the Rust Belt.

After California and Florida, Ohio registered the third highest state total, with 17,793 foreclosure filings during the month. The state documented a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 281 households, fifth highest in the nation.

Texas, Michigan and Georgia all reported more than 10,000 foreclosure filings for the month, documenting the fourth, fifth and sixth highest state foreclosure totals respectively, followed by Arizona, Colorado, Illinois and Nevada.

Top Metros

California cities once again accounted for six of the top 10 metro foreclosure rates in August, with the top three spots all taken by California cities.

Modesto documented the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate, one foreclosure filing for every 79 households, followed by Stockton and Merced. Other California cities in the top 10 included Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 5, Riverside-San Bernardino at No. 6 and Sacramento at No. 7.

Detroit posted a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 87 households, the nation’s fourth highest metro foreclosure rate and more than five times the national average. Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Las Vegas and Cleveland, Ohio, ranked Nos. 8, 9 and 10.

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