Foreclosures Surge 53 Percent in June

The nation’s housing mess hasn’t yet reached an inflection point in the downturn, with real estate data firm RealtyTrac Inc. reporting Thursday morning that foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 252,363 U.S. properties during June. The monthly total is a 3 percent decrease from the previous month, but up 53 percent from one year ago. “June was the second straight month with more than a quarter million properties nationwide receiving foreclosure filings,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Foreclosure activity slipped 3 percent lower from the previous month, but the year-over-year increase of more than 50 percent indicates we have not yet reached the top of this foreclosure cycle.” California, Florida, Ohio report highest foreclosure totals Foreclosure filings were reported on 68,666 California properties in June, down nearly 5 percent from the previous month but still up nearly 77 percent from one year ago. California’s total was highest among the states for the 18th consecutive month. Florida continued to register the nation’s second highest foreclosure total, with foreclosure filings reported on 40,351 properties in June — an increase of nearly 8 percent from the previous month and an increase of nearly 92 percent from June 2007. One in every 211 Florida properties received a foreclosure filing during the month, the nation’s fourth highest state foreclosure rate and 2.4 times the national average, RealtyTrac said. Underscoring just how much foreclosure activity is in both California and Florida right now — two states that served as the epicenter of the nation’s housing boom, and now bust — the third-highest state total for foreclosures in June went to Ohio, with filings reported on 13,194 properties in the state. Ohio’s foreclosure activity increased 7 percent from the previous month and 11 percent from June 2007. “Bank repossessions, or REOs, continue to increase at a much faster pace than default notices or auction notices,” Saccacio said. “REOs in June were up 171 percent from a year ago, while default notices were up 38 percent and auction notices were up 22 percent over the same time period.” Where the metros are For the third month in a row, California and Florida cities accounted for nine out of the top 10 metropolitan foreclosure rates among the 230 metropolitan areas tracked in the report. Seven California metro areas were in the top 10, and the top three rates were in California: Stockton, with one in every 72 households receiving a foreclosure filing; Merced, with one in every 77 households receiving a foreclosure filing; and Modesto, with one in every 86 households receiving a foreclosure filing. Other California metro areas in the top 10 were Riverside-San Bernardino at No. 5; Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 7; Bakersfield at No. 8; and Salinas-Monterey at No. 10. The top metro foreclosure rate in Florida was once again posted by Cape Coral-Fort Myers, where one in every 91 households received a foreclosure filing — fourth highest among the nation’s metro foreclosure rates. The foreclosure rate in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., ranked No. 9. Las Vegas continued to be the only city outside of California and Florida with a foreclosure rate ranking among the top 10. One in every 99 Las Vegas households received a foreclosure filing in June, more than five times the national average and No. 6 among the metro areas. For more information, visit http://www.realtytrac.com.