Foreclosure activity in February increased nearly six percent from the month before, according to RealtyTrac's ""U.S. Foreclosure Market Report"":http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspxxChannelID=9&ItemID=5982&accnt=64847 released on Thursday. The gain comes despite widespread foreclosure moratoria instituted by the GSEs and some of the nation's largest lenders during the first part of the year.
According to RealtyTrac's February study, foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions — were reported on 290,631 U.S. properties during the month, or one in every 440 housing units. The February figures represent a 30 percent jump compared to the same period last year and the third highest monthly total recorded since RealtyTrac began tracking national foreclosure numbers in January of 2005.
James J. Saccacio, CEO of ""RealtyTrac"":http://www.realtytrac.com, said, ""The increase in foreclosure activity from January to February is somewhat surprising, given that many of the foreclosure prevention efforts and moratoria in place in January were extended through most of February as well.""
""There were some notable exceptions to this,"" Saccacio explained, such as ""a 45-day voluntary moratorium in Florida expired at the end of January, and foreclosure activity there was up 14 percent from the previous month; and many New York foreclosure proceedings, delayed by a new law for an extra 90 days, appear to have hit the system in February, when the state’s foreclosure activity increased 23 percent from the previous month.""
Nevada, Arizona, and California posted the top state foreclosure rates once again. Nevada continued to document the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 70 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in February. The state saw a nine percent increase in foreclosures from January and a 156 percent increase from February 2008.
Arizona came in at No. 2, with one in every 147 homes receiving a foreclosure filing during February, and California posted the nation’s third highest rate, with one in every 165 housing units in foreclosure. Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s 10 highest were Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Illinois, Georgia, Oregon, and Ohio.
California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada had the highest total number of foreclosures during February, with cities in these Sun Belt states claiming the top spots in terms of metro foreclosure rates. Las Vegas had the nation's highest foreclosure rate among metro areas, with one in every 60 Las Vegas homes receiving a foreclosure filing in February. The Las Vegas foreclosure rate was more than seven times higher than the national average.