Nine of Top 10 Most Severely Affected Metros Post Year-Over-Year Declines in Foreclosure Activity, but Rates Remain 3 to 5 Times Higher than National Average

RealtyTrac® released its Midyear 2010 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, which shows 154 of the 206 U.S. metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more totaled year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity. It’s important to note, however, that despite the overall incease, foreclosure activity decreased in nine of the 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rates to date.

RealtyTrac warns that persist unemployment and ineffective foreclosure prevention efforts could lead to increasing foreclosure activity and weaker home prices.

Just four states accounted for all top 20 metro foreclosure rates:

• Florida had nine metros in the top 20
• California posted eight
• Nevada saw two
• Arizona with one

“While we’re seeing early signs that foreclosure activity may have peaked in some of the hardest-hit markets, foreclosures continued to rise in three-quarters of the nation’s metropolitan areas in the first half of the year,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The fragile stability achieved in many local housing markets hinges on improvements in the underlying economy, specifically job growth. If unemployment remains persistently high and foreclosure prevention efforts only delay the inevitable, then we could continue to see increased foreclosure activity and a corresponding weakness in home prices in many metro areas.”    

Top 10 metro foreclosure rates                                               

• Las Vegas continued to post the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate in the first half of the year, with 6.60 percent of its housing units (one in 15) receiving a foreclosure filing — more than five times the national average. A total of 53,525 Las Vegas properties received a foreclosure filing during the six-month period, a decrease of nearly 15 percent from the previous six months and a decrease of nearly 9 percent from the first half of 2009.
• Foreclosure activity in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., metro area decreased nearly 22 percent from the previous six months and was down nearly 30 percent from the first half of 2009, but the metro area still documented the nation’s second highest metro foreclosure rate — 4.98 percent of its housing units (one in 20) received a foreclosure filing during the six-month period. Other Florida cities in the top 10 were Orlando-Kissimmee at No. 8 (4.15 percent of housing units) and Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach at No. 10 (3.89 percent).
• Modesto, Calif., with 4.59 percent of its housing units (one in 22) receiving a foreclosure filing, posted the nation’s third highest metro foreclosure rate. Other California cities in the top 10 were Merced at No. 4 (4.47 percent of housing units); Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at No. 5 (4.37 percent); Stockton at No. 6 (4.37 percent); and Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 9 (3.91 percent).
• The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro area in Arizona posted the nation’s seventh highest metro foreclosure rate, with 4.28 percent of its housing units (one in 23) receiving a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2010.

 Metros with highest foreclosure totals

• The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metro area posted more properties foreclosure filings during the first half of 2010 than any other metro area with a population of 200,000 or more. A total of 94,466 properties in the Miami area received a foreclosure filing during the six-month period, a decrease of 8 percent from the previous six months, but up nearly 11 percent from the first six months of 2009.
• The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana metro area received a total of foreclosure filings on 93,263 properties in the first half of 2010, the second highest total of any metro area nationwide and 2.11 percent of all housing units (one in 47) — ranking No. 35 in terms of foreclosure rate.
• The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metro area saw 78,022 properties receive a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2010, the third highest total and 2.07 percent of all housing units (one in 48) — ranking No. 37 in terms of foreclosure rate.
• Other metro areas with the 10 highest foreclosure totals were Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale (73,352), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (63,717), Las Vegas-Paradise (53,525), Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta (52,381), Detroit-Warren-Livonia (47,563), New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island (44,522), and Orlando-Kissimmee (37,352).