Foreclosure Activity Down in January

""RealtyTrac"":http://www.realtytrac.com released its ""January 2009 Foreclosure Market Report"":http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspxxChannelID=9&ItemID=5807&accnt=64847 today, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 274,399 U.S. properties during the month.
The number of foreclosures during the first month of the new year is 10 percent lower than in December but still up 18 percent from the same time in 2008. Those numbers mean that one in every 466 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in January, making it the 37th consecutive month with year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity.
James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's CEO, explained the monthly decline, saying, ""The extensive foreclosure efforts on the part of lenders and government agencies appear to have impacted the January numbers — particularly the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moratorium on all foreclosure sales that was extended through the end of January, along with Florida’s voluntary 45-day freeze on all new foreclosure actions and scheduling of foreclosure sales that was announced at the beginning of December.""
Saccacio added that because of the lull in foreclosure sales, January REOs, which represent complete foreclosure sales to the foreclosing lender, were down 15 percent nationwide.
Just as in December, Nevada, California, and Arizona posted the highest state foreclosure rates in January.
Nevada foreclosure activity decreased 4 percent from the previous month, but the state continued to register the nation’s No. 1 foreclosure rate, with one in every 76 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Foreclosure filings were reported on 14,444 Nevada properties, up 137 percent from January 2008.
California posted the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate in January, with one in every 173 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. Arizona came in third, with one in every 182 housing units receiving a filing in January.
Despite a 20 percent month-over-month drop in activity in Florida due to the state's voluntary foreclosure freeze, one in every 214 housing units in the Sunshine State received a foreclosure filing in January. Florida posted the nation’s fourth highest state foreclosure rate.
Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s 10 highest were Oregon, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Idaho, and Ohio.
Illinois foreclosure activity in January increased 16 percent from the previous month, with foreclosure filings on 14,447 properties — the fourth highest total number of filings. One in every 363 Illinois properties received a foreclosure filing in January, giving the state the nation’s sixth highest foreclosure rate.
California cities accounted for six of the top 10 metro foreclosure rates in January among metro areas with a population of 200,000 or more. Merced, California, posted the top metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 59 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month — nearly eight times the national average.
Two Florida cities posted metro foreclosure rates among the top 10: Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 3 and Port St. Lucie at No. 9. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada, had the second highest metro foreclosure rate in January, and Reno-Sparks, Nevada came in at No. 10. Reno-Sparks was the only metro area in the top 10 that did not experience a month-over-month decrease in foreclosure activity, but all of the top 10 saw year-over-year increases in activity.
To view RealtyTrac's January market data, including a breakdown of activity by state, ""click here"":http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspxxChannelID=9&ItemID=5807&accnt=64847.