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Foreclosure Filings Up 57 Percent In February

Credit crunch tightens; Highest foreclosure rate in Nevada

March 13, 2008

In its analysis, RealtyTrac says is it unlikely the U.S. market has hit a ceiling in terms of foreclosures.

"The February monthly decrease is more likely a seasonal decrease helped along by a shorter-than-average month and the fact that January's numbers are often padded with some pent-up foreclosure activity from the holiday season," the authors write.

"That premise is supported by looking at the numbers in February 2007, when U.S. foreclosure activity was down 6 percent from January. Foreclosure activity continued to climb for the remainder of that year."

The more important indicator, the report says, is the year-over-year increase, which has been between 50 percent and 60 percent for both January and February. If you look back at the RealtyTrac monthly reports, activity has increased on a year-over-year basis every month since January 2006, the first month that YOY stats were available.

"So the overall trend -- at least on a national basis -- is steadily upward," the report concludes.

Of course, the bleeding won't go on for ever and the fundamentals of a healthy real estate market will be restored. The question no one seems to be able to answer at the moment is how much more damage will it suffer?

Highest in Nevada

Nevada continued to document the highest foreclosure rate among the states, with one in every 165 households receiving a foreclosure filing — more than three times the national average. Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 6,167 Nevada properties during the month, up 1 percent from the previous month and up 68 percent from February 2007.

California registered the nation's second highest state foreclosure rate in February, with one in every 242 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, and Florida registered the nation's third highest February foreclosure rate, with one in every 254 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Both states documented foreclosure rates that were more than twice the national average.

Arizona foreclosure activity was up 6 percent from the previous month and nearly 210 percent from February 2007, helping the state's February foreclosure rate — one in every 264 households received a foreclosure filing during the month — rank fourth highest in the nation.

With one in every 305 households receiving a foreclosure filing in February, Colorado's foreclosure rate ranked fifth highest among the states despite a 1 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month. The state's foreclosure activity was still up nearly 27 percent from February 2007.

Other states with foreclosure rates among the nation's 10 highest were Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana and Tennessee.

Highest totals

Foreclosure filings were reported on a total of 53,629 California properties in February, the most of any state despite a 6 percent decrease from the previous month. The state's foreclosure activity was still up 131 percent from February 2007.

With foreclosure filings reported on a total of 32,447 properties, Florida documented the second highest state total in February. The state's foreclosure activity was up more than 7 percent from the previous month and more than 69 percent from February 2007.

Texas documented the third highest state total — 12,261 properties with foreclosure filings — despite a nearly 17 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month and a 1 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from February 2007. With one in every 736 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, the state's foreclosure rate ranked No. 17 among the states and was below the national average.

Michigan and Ohio both reported more than 10,000 properties with foreclosure filings in February. Other states in the top 10 in terms of total properties with foreclosure filings reported were Arizona, Illinois, Georgia, Colorado and Nevada.

Top metros

California and Florida metro areas accounted for nine of the top 10 metro foreclosure rates in February. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., metro area documented the highest February foreclosure rate among the 229 metro areas tracked in the report, with one in every 84 households receiving a foreclosure filing — 6.7 times the national average. The other Florida metro area in the top 10 was Fort Lauderdale, which ranked No. 10.

The Stockton, Calif., metro area documented the second highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 87 households receiving a foreclosure filing in February. Other California metro areas in the top 10 were Modesto at No. 3, Merced at No. 4, Riverside-San Bernardino at No. 5, Bakersfield at No. 7, Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 8 and Sacramento at No. 9.

Las Vegas was the only metro area in the top 10 that was not in California or Florida. With one in every 131 households receiving a foreclosure filing in February, the city's foreclosure rate ranked No. 6.

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