RealtyTrac today released its Q3 2010 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, which shows that cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona once again accounted for all top 10 foreclosure rates in the third quarter among metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more, while cities outside those four states accounted for many of the biggest increases in metro foreclosure activity.
California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona cities also accounted for 19 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates. The only exception was Boise City-Nampa, Idaho at No. 14, which was one of only five metro areas in the top 20 to post a year-over-year increase in foreclosure activity — along with the Florida metro areas of Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach at No. 7, Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond at No. 15, Naples-Marco Island at No. 18, and Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville at No. 19.
Among all 206 metro areas tracked in the report 133 (65 percent) posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, and 11 of the nation’s 20 largest metro areas posted year-over-year increases. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue led the way with a 71 percent increase in foreclosure activity from the third quarter of 2009, followed by Chicago-Naperville-Joliet with a 35 percent increase, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown with a 26 percent increase, Detroit-Warren-Livonia with a nearly 23 percent increase, and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta with a 20 percent increase.
“The underlying problems that are causing homeowners to miss their mortgage payments — high unemployment, underemployment, toxic loans and negative equity — are continuing to plague most local housing markets,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “And these historically high foreclosure rates will continue until those problems are resolved.”
Top 10 metro foreclosure rates
Las Vegas-Paradise continued to post the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate in the third quarter, with one in every 25 housing units (3.98 percent) receiving a foreclosure filing — more than five times the national average. A total of 32,288 properties in the metro area received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, an increase of nearly 2 percent from the previous quarter but a decrease of 20 percent from the third quarter of 2009.
Metros with highest foreclosure totals
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach documented 58,624 properties receiving a foreclosure filing in the third quarter, the highest total nationwide among metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more. Miami foreclosure activity increased nearly 25 percent from the previous quarter and was up 9 percent from the third quarter of 2009.
A total of 48,849 properties in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana area received a foreclosure filing in the third quarter, the second highest metro total despite a nearly 3 percent decrease from the previous quarter and a nearly 30 percent decrease from the third quarter of 2009.
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet documented the third highest metro total, with 44,732 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter, a 6 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 35 percent increase from the third quarter of 2009.
Report methodology
The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the RealtyTrac database during the quarter for metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 200,000 or more based on Census bureau estimates. Some foreclosure filings entered into the database during a quarter may have been recorded in previous time periods. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide, and those counties account for more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. RealtyTrac’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If more than one foreclosure document is received for a property during the quarter, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. If the same type of foreclosure document was filed against a property previous to the quarter period but within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state where the property is located, the report does not count the property in the quarter.