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Foreclosure activity in April fell to a 74-month low across the country, but many judicial states are experiencing rising foreclosures. Furthermore, judicial foreclosure auctions reached a 30-month high, according to ""RealtyTrac's April U.S. Foreclosure Market Report"":http://www.realtytrac.com/content/foreclosure-market-report/april-2013-us-foreclosure-market-report-7713.
[IMAGE]One in every 905 homes in the country had a foreclosure filing in April, while the total number of filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions, declined 5 percent from March and 23 percent from April 2012.
April's scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions, which reached their highest level in 30 months, demonstrated a 22 percent monthly increase and a 31 percent yearly increase.
In contrast, non-judicial foreclosure auctions reached an 88-month low, having fallen 43 percent from last April.
""Foreclosure starts have been increasing for several months in many of the judicial states, and now that increased volume is showing up in the second stage of the process: the public foreclosure auction,"" said Daren Blomquist, VP at RealtyTrac.
Fifteen of the 26 judicial foreclosure states in the nation experienced an increase in foreclosure auctions in April.
[COLUMN_BREAK]The increase is ""evidence that lenders are serious about moving forward with completing the foreclosure process,"" Blomquist said.
Scheduled foreclosure auctions in Maryland increased 199 percent in April compared to April 2012, according to RealtyTrac. New Jersey experienced a 91 percent increase; Ohio experienced a 73 percent increase.
Oklahoma (57 percent), and Florida (55 percent) also experienced high increases in scheduled foreclosure auctions over the year, as of April.
Real estate agents in some areas with high foreclosure rates see hope in the increase rather than a hindrance.
""The jump in scheduled foreclosure auctions should bring some much needed relief to both the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas, where inventory is extremely tight, as many of these properties will end up repossessed by lenders and then listed for sale,"" said Sheldon Detrick, CEO of Prudential Alliance Realty in Oklahoma City and Prudential Detrick Realty in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Similarly, Rich Cosner, president of Prudential California Realty in Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties said, ""[Y]ou could put five times the number of [notices of defaults] on the market and the homes would eb sold in less than 30 days.""
Across all states, Nevada ranked No. 1 for foreclosures in April, despite a 15 percent decline from March and a 17 percent decline over the past year.
Florida ranked No. 2 in April, despite a 27 percent monthly decline.
Ohio posted the third-highest foreclosure rate in April, and is home to the highest-ranking metro with a population of at least 200,000 â€" Akron, Ohio.
Underwater homeowners continue to make up a significant portion of homeowners. At the start of May, 26 percent of all homeowners with outstanding mortgages held mortgage loans in amounts totaling at least 25 percent more than their home is currently worth.
