Foreclosure Filings Soar in August

Foreclosure filings rose 36 percent in August from July and a staggering 115 percent from a year ago, hit by declines in once-hot housing markets such as California, Nevada and Florida.

RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report found the number of foreclosure filings in August - default notices, auction sale notices and repossessions - was 243,947, the highest since it began its report in January 2005.

“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 (bad credit mortgage) loans are beginning to reset now,” James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, said.

Nevada mortgage defaults again made for the highest state foreclosure rate, with one filing for every 165 households. The Silver State reported 6,197 foreclosure filings in August, a 21 percent rise from July and more than triple the number reported in August 2006.

California’s foreclosure rate jumped to the second highest among states, with a 48 percent month-on-month spike in foreclosures.

With a huge 57,875 California mortgage foreclosure filings in August, or one for every 224, the Golden State more than doubled the national average.

Florida’s foreclosure activity jumped 77 percent from the previous month, with the foreclosure rate jumping from seventh highest to third. Florida reported 33,932 foreclosure filings, one for every 243 households.

Rounding out the top 10 for foreclosure rates were Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana and Texas home loan filings.

In terms of absolute numbers of foreclosure filings, after California and Florida, Ohio registered the third-highest state total, with 17,793 foreclosure filings in August, or one in every 281 households.

Texas, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois and Nevada all had more than 10,000 mortgage foreclosure filings for the month.

California accounted for six of the top 10 metro area foreclosure rates in August. Modesto was hardest hit, with one foreclosure for every 79 homes, followed by Stockton and Merced. Other California cities in the top 10 included Fairfield, Riverside-San Bernardino, and Sacramento.

Detroit saw one foreclosure filing for every 87 homes, good for the 4th-highest metro foreclosure rate, which was more than five times the national average. Also in the top 10 were Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Las Vegas, and Cleveland.

SOURCE: Reuters