RealtyTrac®, released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for the first quarter of 2009, which shows that foreclosure activity was reported on just over 800k properties in the first quarter. This was nearly a 10% increase from the fourth quarter of 2008, and an increase of more than 20% from the same time period in 2008. The sad news is that 1 in every 159 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing during the first three months of 2009.
“In the month of March we saw a record level of foreclosure activity - the number of households that received a foreclosure filing was more than 12 percent higher than the next highest month on record. Since much of this activity was in new foreclosure actions, it suggests that many lenders and servicers were holding off on executing foreclosures due to industry moratoria and legislative delays,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “It’s also likely that the drop in REO activity can be attributed to these processing delays, rather than to any of the foreclosure prevention programs currently in place. It’s very likely that we’ll see the number of REOs increase again now that most of the moratoria have been lifted.”
“On a positive note, it appears that demand is up in some of the harder-hit areas, particularly on bank-owned REO properties that first time homebuyers and investors see as bargains,” Saccacio continued. “But it’s unlikely that this increased demand will be enough to offset the growing number of foreclosures in the pipeline, accelerated by rising unemployment rates.”
Top Foreclosure States? You Guessed it. Nevada, Arizona, California highest foreclosure rates.
In Nevada 1 in every 27 homes received a foreclosure filing! Arizona posted the second highest state foreclosure results with 1 in every 54 homes receiving a foreclosure filing, and California posted the third highest state foreclosure rate for the first quarter with 1 in every 58 homes receiving a foreclosure filing.
Which states were the other culprits? Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Idaho, Utah and Oregon with the top five states holding the distinction of having almost two-thirds of the foreclosure activity in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2009 by themselves.
The author Hank Bailey is real estate broker in the state of Georgia. He blogs at athensproperties.wordpress.com/.
hankbailey@kw.com
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