Published: March 10, 2010
U.S. Foreclosure Activity Decreases 2 Percent in February According to RealtyTrac(R) U.S. Foreclosure Market Report
Activity Up 6 Percent From February 2009, Smallest Annual Increase in Four Years; More Than 300,000 Properties Receive Foreclosure Filings for 12th Straight Month
RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure
properties, today released its February 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market
Report™, which shows foreclosure filings -- default notices, scheduled
auctions and bank repossessions -- were reported on 308,524 U.S.
properties during the month, a decrease of 2 percent from the previous
month but still 6 percent above the level reported in February 2009. The
report also shows one in every 418 U.S. housing units received a
foreclosure filing in February.
"The 6 percent year-over-year increase we saw in February was the smallest
annual increase we've seen since January 2006, when we began calculating
year-over-year increases, but it still marked the 50th consecutive month of
year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity," said James J. Saccacio,
chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "This leveling of the foreclosure
trend is not necessarily evidence that fewer homeowners are in distress and
at risk for foreclosure, but rather that foreclosure prevention programs,
legislation and other processing delays are in effect capping monthly
foreclosure activity -- albeit at a historically high level that will
likely continue for an extended period.
"In addition, severe winter weather appears to have temporarily slowed the
processing of foreclosure records in some Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic
states."
Foreclosure activity by type
Default notices (Notices of Default and Lis Pendens) were
reported on a total of 106,208 U.S. properties during the month, an
increase of 3 percent from the previous month but down 3 percent from
February 2009. Default notices were down 25 percent from their peak of more
than 142,000 in April 2009 but were still more than three times the number
they were four years ago in February 2006.
Foreclosure auctions (Notices of Trustee's Sale and Notices of Sheriff's
Sales) were scheduled for the first time on a total of 123,633 U.S.
properties, a decrease of 1 percent from the previous month but still 16
percent higher than the level reported in February 2009. Scheduled auctions were down 14 percent from their peak
of more than 144,000 in August 2009 but were also about three times higher
than the number reported in February 2006.
Bank repossessions (REOs) were reported on a total of 78,683 U.S.
properties during the month, a 10 percent decrease from the previous month
but an increase of 6 percent from February 2009. Bank repossessions were
down nearly 15 percent from their peak of more than 92,000 in December 2009
but were at nearly twice the level reported in February 2006.
Nevada, Arizona, Florida post top state foreclosure rates
Nevada foreclosure activity decreased nearly 7
percent from the previous month and was down 30 percent from February 2009,
but the state's foreclosure rate continued to rank highest in the nation
for the 38th month in a row. One in every 102 Nevada housing units received
a foreclosure filing during the month -- more than four times the national
average.
Arizona and Florida documented nearly identical foreclosure rates, with one
in every 163 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in both states.
Despite a nearly 21 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the
previous month, Arizona's rate was statistically slightly higher than
Florida's rate and ranked second highest among the states.
California's foreclosure rate ranked fourth highest among the states, with
one in every 195 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the
month, and Michigan's foreclosure rate ranked fifth highest among the
states, with one in every 226 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.
Other states with foreclosure rates among the nation's 10 highest were Utah
(one in every 275 housing units), Idaho (one in 296), Illinois (one in
305), Georgia (one in 331) and Maryland (one in 407).
Six states account for more than 60 percent of national total
The six states with the most foreclosure activity accounted for 61 percent
of the national total in February. California led the way, with 68,562 properties
receiving a foreclosure filing during the month -- down nearly 5 percent
from the previous month and down 15 percent from February 2009.
Foreclosure activity in Florida increased nearly 15 percent from the
previous month and was up more than 16 percent from February 2009. The
state continued to post the nation's second highest total, with 54,032
properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.
Increasing foreclosure activity boosted Michigan's total to third highest
among the states. A total of 20,028 Michigan properties received a
foreclosure filing during the month -- up nearly 14 percent from the
previous month and up 59 percent from February 2009.
With 17,312 properties receiving a foreclosure filing, Illinois posted the
fourth highest total, followed by Arizona, with 16,718 properties receiving
a foreclosure filing, and Texas, with 12,638 properties receiving a
foreclosure filing in February.
Other states with totals among the 10 highest in the country were Georgia
(12,177), Ohio (11,286), Nevada (11,035), and Maryland (5,732).
Divergent trends in metro areas with top 10 foreclosure rates
Metro areas in the Sun Belt states of Nevada, Florida, California and
Arizona continued to dominate the top 10 highest foreclosure rates among
metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more, but activity
trends in these areas varied considerably.
The Las Vegas metro area documented the highest metro foreclosure rate,
with one in every 90 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during
the month, despite a 9 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the
previous month.
Six of the other metro areas in the top 10 -- all in California or Arizona
-- also reported decreasing foreclosure activity from the previous month.
The biggest monthly decrease among the top 10 was in the Phoenix metro
area, where foreclosure activity dropped nearly 18 percent.
In contrast, the two Florida metro areas in the top 10 both posted
substantial monthly increases in foreclosure activity. The Cape Coral-Fort
Myers metro area saw a 31 percent increase in foreclosure activity from the
previous month, giving it the second highest metro foreclosure rate -- one
in every 92 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. An increase of
nearly 66 percent in foreclosure activity from the previous month helped
boost the foreclosure rate in Port St. Lucie to sixth highest.
Report methodology
The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total
number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the
RealtyTrac database during the month -- broken out by type of filing by
state, county and metropolitan statistical area. Some foreclosure filings
entered into the database during the month may have been recorded in
previous months. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties
nationwide, and those counties account for more than 90 percent of the U.S.
population. 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 received for a property during the
month, 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.
U.S. Foreclosure Market Data by State -- February 2010
Properties with Foreclosure Filings
-------------------------------------------------------
1/every
Rate X HU
Rank State Name NOD LIS NTS NFS REO Total (rate)
---- ------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
-- U.S. 46,207 60,001 84,641 38,992 78,683 308,524 418
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
32 Alabama 0 0 1,546 0 745 2,291 942
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
28 Alaska 2 0 197 0 129 328 864
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
2 Arizona 8 0 10,657 0 6,053 16,718 163
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
19 Arkansas 121 0 1,246 0 643 2,010 646
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
4 California 30,128 0 25,888 0 12,546 68,562 195
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
11 Colorado 19 0 3,416 0 1,719 5,154 418
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
16 Connecticut 0 1,538 0 68 688 2,294 629
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
34 Delaware 0 0 0 96 216 312 1,260
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
District of
Columbia 0 0 145 0 33 178 1,603
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
3 Florida 0 31,225 0 15,815 6,992 54,032 163
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
9 Georgia 0 0 8,463 0 3,714 12,177 331
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
14 Hawaii 87 0 625 0 260 972 528
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
7 Idaho 1,071 0 758 0 338 2,167 296
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
8 Illinois 0 6,261 0 6,454 4,597 17,312 305
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
17 Indiana 0 1,329 1 1,517 1,514 4,361 641
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
42 Iowa 0 0 252 0 272 524 2,537
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
38 Kansas 0 140 0 234 420 794 1,545
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
40 Kentucky 0 68 0 339 405 812 2,365
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
37 Louisiana 0 265 0 856 278 1,399 1,346
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
39 Maine 0 55 0 204 119 378 1,853
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
10 Maryland 0 2,518 0 2,160 1,054 5,732 407
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
15 Massachusetts 0 1,909 0 1,734 911 4,554 601
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
5 Michigan 6,233 0 6,209 0 7,586 20,028 226
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
27 Minnesota 22 0 1,316 0 1,669 3,007 775
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
45 Mississippi 0 0 83 0 333 416 3,046
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
30 Missouri 6 0 1,690 0 1,318 3,014 884
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
44 Montana 0 0 33 0 113 146 3,002
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
46 Nebraska 98 0 23 0 68 189 4,160
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
1 Nevada 6,581 0 2,462 0 1,992 11,035 102
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
21 New Hampshire 0 0 513 0 318 831 719
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
31 New Jersey 0 1,726 0 1,325 699 3,750 938
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
25 New Mexico 0 581 0 381 198 1,160 751
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
41 New York 0 1,987 0 691 559 3,237 2,464
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
36 North Carolina 428 0 1,103 0 1,610 3,141 1,338
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
48 North Dakota 0 0 0 20 42 62 5,054
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
12 Ohio 0 4,739 0 3,214 3,333 11,286 450
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
29 Oklahoma 0 803 0 724 361 1,888 867
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
13 Oregon 23 0 2,209 0 1,080 3,312 492
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
35 Pennsylvania 0 1,362 0 1,535 1,236 4,133 1,330
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
22 Rhode Island 0 0 404 0 215 619 730
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
20 South Carolina 0 1,647 0 387 1,080 3,114 660
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
43 South Dakota 0 43 0 59 31 133 2,718
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
23 Tennessee 0 0 1,807 0 1,885 3,692 747
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
26 Texas 15 0 7,769 0 4,854 12,638 760
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
6 Utah 1,349 0 1,355 0 726 3,430 275
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
50 Vermont 0 0 0 0 8 8 39,077
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
24 Virginia 16 0 2,956 0 1,431 4,403 751
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
33 Washington 0 0 1,513 0 1,157 2,670 1,046
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
49 West Virginia 0 0 1 0 73 74 11,979
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
18 Wisconsin 0 1,805 0 1,179 1,010 3,994 643
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
47 Wyoming 0 0 1 0 52 53 4,649
------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------- ------
Properties with
Foreclosure Filings
------------------------
Rate % Change % Change
Rank State Name from Jan 10 from Feb 09
---- ------------- ----------- -----------
-- U.S. -2.28 6.22
----------- -----------
32 Alabama 27.21 221.32*
----------- -----------
28 Alaska 4.46 61.58
----------- -----------
2 Arizona -20.57 -7.73
----------- -----------
19 Arkansas -0.05 24.38
----------- -----------
4 California -4.53 -15.12
----------- -----------
11 Colorado 2.49 22.16
----------- -----------
16 Connecticut 3.43 3.33
----------- -----------
34 Delaware -32.17 14.29
----------- -----------
District of
Columbia -7.29 -53.03
----------- -----------
3 Florida 14.79 16.47
----------- -----------
9 Georgia 8.01 19.56
----------- -----------
14 Hawaii -25.35 81.01
----------- -----------
7 Idaho -16.75 22.85
----------- -----------
8 Illinois -4.46 21.76
----------- -----------
17 Indiana -5.65 -1.02
----------- -----------
42 Iowa -15.62 -9.50
----------- -----------
38 Kansas 12.15 -32.19
----------- -----------
40 Kentucky -29.45 35.79
----------- -----------
37 Louisiana 16.39 106.34*
----------- -----------
39 Maine 5.88 44.83
----------- -----------
10 Maryland 9.62 80.48
----------- -----------
15 Massachusetts 0.40 54.90
----------- -----------
5 Michigan 13.96 59.41**
----------- -----------
27 Minnesota 6.90 16.82
----------- -----------
45 Mississippi 0.00 41.50*
----------- -----------
30 Missouri 2.34 -3.68
----------- -----------
44 Montana -63.13 170.37*
----------- -----------
46 Nebraska -50.13 1353.85*
----------- -----------
1 Nevada -6.91 -30.08
----------- -----------
21 New Hampshire -26.72 12.45
----------- -----------
31 New Jersey -38.98 14.36
----------- -----------
25 New Mexico -9.45 210.99*
----------- -----------
41 New York -29.15 -20.43
----------- -----------
36 North Carolina -0.73 54.05
----------- -----------
48 North Dakota 63.16 67.57*
----------- -----------
12 Ohio 1.63 0.49
----------- -----------
29 Oklahoma 6.49 83.30*
----------- -----------
13 Oregon -31.17 -8.20
----------- -----------
35 Pennsylvania -18.69 -1.41
----------- -----------
22 Rhode Island -4.62 51.34
----------- -----------
20 South Carolina 0.42 25.92
----------- -----------
43 South Dakota 850.00 315.63*
----------- -----------
23 Tennessee -5.60 0.03
----------- -----------
26 Texas 3.38 20.05
----------- -----------
6 Utah -16.08 90.03
----------- -----------
50 Vermont -46.67 -27.27
----------- -----------
24 Virginia -15.91 -8.71
----------- -----------
33 Washington -23.61 -13.20
----------- -----------
49 West Virginia 0.00 -33.33
----------- -----------
18 Wisconsin 7.65 33.76
----------- -----------
47 Wyoming 60.61 -34.57
----------- -----------
* Actual increase may not be as high due to data collection changes or
improvements
** Collection of records classified as NOD began in August 2009 because
of change in state law
About RealtyTrac Inc.
RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com) is the leading online marketplace of
foreclosure properties, with more than 1.5 million default, auction and
bank-owned listings from over 2,200 U.S. counties, along with detailed
property, loan and home sales data. Hosting more than 3 million unique
monthly visitors, RealtyTrac provides innovative technology solutions and
practical education resources to facilitate buying, selling and investing
in real estate. RealtyTrac's foreclosure data has also been used by the
Federal Reserve, FBI, U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and Banking
Committee, U.S. Treasury Department, and numerous state housing and banking
departments to help evaluate foreclosure trends and address policy issues
related to foreclosures. RealtyTrac publishes a blog with daily updates on
the foreclosure market (www.foreclosurepulse.com) and a monthly print
newsletter covering the foreclosure market in depth
(www.foreclosurenewsreport.com).
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