Foreclosures Up in July 2009 - California 100K+

U.S. FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY INCREASES 7 PERCENT IN JULY 
By RealtyTrac Staff   

U.S. Foreclosure Activity Up 32 Percent from July 2008
Over 360,000 Households Receive Foreclosure Filings, Setting New Record

IRVINE, Calif. — August 13, 2009 — RealtyTrac^® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its July 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 360,149 U.S. properties during the month, an increase of nearly 7 percent from the previous month and an increase of 32 percent from July 2008. The report also shows that one in every 355 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in July.

“July marks the third time in the last five months where we’ve seen a new record set for foreclosure activity,” noted James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Despite continued efforts by the federal government and state governments to patch together a safety net for distressed homeowners, we’re seeing significant growth in both the initial notices of default and in the bank repossessions.”

View U.S. foreclosure heat map and comment on this report.

Nevada, California, Arizona post top state foreclosure rates

For the 31st consecutive month Nevada documented the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 56 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in July — more than six times the national average. Initial default notices (NOD) in Nevada decreased 18 percent from the previous month, likely the result of a new state law requiring lenders to offer mediation to homeowners facing foreclosure. The law took effect July 1. Meanwhile, scheduled auctions (NTS) and bank repossessions (REO) in Nevada both increased more than 20 percent from the previous month, boosting overall foreclosure activity in the state by 4 percent on a month-over-month basis.

Initial defaults (NOD) in California spiked 15 percent from the previous month, and the state registered the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate for the third month in a row. One in every 123 California housing units received a foreclosure filing in July, nearly three times the national average. Scheduled auctions (NTS) in California were down 1 percent from the previous month, but bank repossessions (REO) were up 4 percent — leaving overall foreclosure activity up nearly 7 percent on a month-over-month basis.

One in every 135 Arizona housing units received a foreclosure filing in July, the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate and more than 2.5 times the national average. Scheduled auctions (NTS), the first public record in the Arizona foreclosure process, jumped 25 percent from the previous month while bank repossessions stayed flat.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s 10 highest were Florida, Utah, Idaho, Georgia, Illinois, Colorado and Oregon.

Four states account for more than half of total foreclosure activity

The top four state foreclosure activity totals in July were reported by California, with 108,104 properties receiving a foreclosure filing; Florida, with 56,486 properties receiving a foreclosure filing; Arizona, with 19,694 properties receiving a foreclosure filing; and Nevada, with 19,535 properties receiving a foreclosure filing. Together these four states accounted for nearly 57 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure activity.

Although Florida bank repossessions (REO) decreased 8 percent from the previous month, the state’s overall foreclosure activity was still up 7 percent from the previous month because of a 9 percent month-over-month increase in both initial default notices (LIS) and scheduled auctions (NFS).

Illinois registered the fifth highest state foreclosure activity total, with 14,524 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Overall foreclosure activity in Illinois increased nearly 35 percent from the previous month, boosted by an 86 percent surge in default notices (LIS), which bounced back from low levels in May and June. A state law enacted April 5 gave delinquent borrowers an extension of up to 90 days before the start of the foreclosure process.

Other states with totals among the 10 highest in the country were Texas (12,077), Georgia (11,136), Ohio (11,021), Michigan (8,257) and New Jersey (6,467).

Foreclosure activity in Michigan dropped 39 percent from the previous month, mostly due to a 66 percent decrease in scheduled auctions (NTS. A state law that took effect July 6 requires lenders — before scheduling a foreclosure auction — to provide delinquent borrowers a uniform default notice with contact information for approved housing counselors who can assist in loan modification. The law freezes foreclosure proceedings an extra 90 days for homeowners who commit to work on a loan modification plan.

Four states dominate top 10 metro foreclosure rates

Foreclosure filings were reported on 16,798 Las Vegas properties in July, one in every 47 housing units — more than 7.5 times the national average and the highest foreclosure rate among metro areas with a population of at least 200,000. The city’s foreclosure activity increased nearly 6 percent from the previous month and 89 percent from July 2008.

Seven California metro areas documented foreclosure rates among the top 10 in July. Stockton posted the nation’s second highest metro foreclosure rate — one in every 62 housing units received a foreclosure filing — followed by Modesto at No. 3 (one in 63), Merced at No. 5 (one in 66), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at No. 6 (one in 67), Bakersfield at No. 7 (one in 76), Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 8 (one in 83), and Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville at No. 10 (one in 105).

Other cities with top 10 metro foreclosure rates were Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., at No. 4, with one in every 64 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., at No. 9, with one in every 103 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month — broken out by type of filing at the state and national level. Data is also available at the individual county level. 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 filed against a property during the month, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.

U.S. Foreclosure Market Data by State – July 2009

		Properties with Foreclosure Filings
Rate Rank	State Name	NOD	LIS	NTS	NFS	REO	Total	1/every X HU (rate)	%? from Jun 09	%? from Jul 08
--	U.S.	62,939	71,565	104,830	33,557	87,258	360,149	355	6.74	32.32
33	Alabama	0	0	1,630	0	452	2,082	1,026	-23.34	141.25*
24	Alaska	3	0	266	0	102	371	761	76.67	79.23
3	Arizona	2	0	14,120	0	5,572	19,694	135	16.99	47.52
21	Arkansas	104	0	1,319	0	828	2,251	572	35.03*	110.77*
2	California	50,917	0	35,802	0	21,385	108,104	123	6.99	49.55
9	Colorado	5	0	3,947	0	1,536	5,488	388	-4.12	2.08
29	Connecticut	0	1,084	0	190	295	1,569	917	7.84	-22.10
37	Delaware	0	0	0	226	72	298	1304	-12.61	125.76
	District of Columbia	267	0	219	0	35	521	546	24.94	-6.80
4	Florida	0	35,227	0	14,502	6,757	56,486	154	6.78	23.11
7	Georgia	1	0	7,616	0	3,519	11,136	356	-20.59	10.68
15	Hawaii	186	0	481	0	323	990	512	40.23	332.31
6	Idaho	1,290	0	1,051	0	150	2,491	253	32.43*	166.13*
8	Illinois	0	6,770	0	4,060	3,694	14,524	361	34.53	62.92
17	Indiana	0	1,015	0	1,881	2,290	5,186	536	-6.86	8.43
43	Iowa	0	0	227	0	374	601	2,212	7.32	20.68
30	Kansas	0	183	0	408	728	1,319	925	37.68	94.83
39	Kentucky	0	405	0	488	341	1,234	1,545	9.30	0.65
40	Louisiana	0	6	0	928	183	1,117	1,664	-23.07	9.83
41	Maine	0	138	0	212	57	407	1,712	39.38	59.61
11	Maryland	0	3,521	0	633	998	5,152	450	66.19	65.98
16	Massachusetts	0	3,548	0	1,049	517	5,114	532	58.77	43.09
19	Michigan	1	0	2,695	0	5,561	8,257	548	-39.32	-28.76
20	Minnesota	12	0	2,266	0	1,847	4,125	559	23.80	146.86
45	Mississippi	0	0	354	0	124	478	2,625	-36.69	151.58*
27	Missouri	5	0	1,729	0	1,441	3,175	834	2.02	-9.60†
47	Montana	0	0	2	0	88	90	4,839	45.16	-36.62
46	Nebraska	0	164	0	5	26	195	4,004	30.87	-70.45
1	Nevada	7,139	0	7,833	0	4,563	19,535	56	4.11	94.18
31	New Hampshire	0	0	611	0	12	623	954	42.24	-31.01
18	New Jersey	0	4,210	0	1,505	752	6,467	541	49.25	39.92
32	New Mexico	0	479	0	270	128	877	983	23.52	61.21*
38	New York	0	4,613	0	871	470	5,954	1,334	22.76	-3.45
36	North Carolina	1,120	0	756	0	1,552	3,428	1,203	7.97	-20.33
48	North Dakota	0	1	0	26	23	50	6,211	56.25	-23.08
12	Ohio	0	5,062	0	3,032	2,927	11,021	460	-2.05	-18.10
35	Oklahoma	595	0	522	0	420	1,537	1,056	18.69	-11.05
10	Oregon	29	0	2,463	0	1,113	3,605	446	15.80	84.40
34	Pennsylvania	0	1,869	0	1,805	1,642	5,316	1,030	7.59	27.36*
28	Rhode Island	0	0	17	0	488	505	893	-44.63	2.23
26	South Carolina	0	1,209	0	484	735	2,428	833	44.01	82.15*
42	South Dakota	0	60	0	56	48	164	2,178	45.13	446.67*
22	Tennessee	0	0	2,263	0	2,309	4,572	596	-2.20	0.15††
25	Texas	24	0	7,194	0	4,859	12,077	781	0.45	16.64
5	Utah	1,234	0	1,728	0	732	3,694	250	6.42	93.30
50	Vermont	0	0	0	0	11	11	28,312	0.00	120.00
14	Virginia	5	0	3,927	0	2,474	6,406	511	23.48	11.51†
13	Washington	0	0	3,632	0	1,738	5,370	511	14.79	94.42*
49	West Virginia	0	0	119	0	20	139	6,350	21.93	265.79
23	Wisconsin	0	2,001	0	926	890	3,817	671	8.10	86.74*
44	Wyoming	0	0	41	0	57	98	2,473	16.67	-26.32

* Actual increase may not be as high due to data collection changes or improvements
† Collection of some records previously classified as NOD in this state was discontinued starting in January 2009 
† Collection of some records previously classified as NOD in this state was discontinued starting in September 2008

U.S. Foreclosure Rates Heat Map – July 2009

About RealtyTrac Inc.

RealtyTrac^® (www.realtytrac.com) is the leading online marketplace of foreclosure properties, with more than 1.5 million default, auction and bank-owned listings from over 2,200 U.S. counties, along with detailed property, loan and home sales data. Hosting more than 3 million unique monthly visitors, RealtyTrac provides innovative technology solutions and practical education resources to facilitate buying, selling and investing in real estate. RealtyTrac’s foreclosure data has also been used by the Federal Reserve, FBI, U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and Banking Committee, U.S. Treasury Department, and numerous state housing and banking departments to help evaluate foreclosure trends and address policy issues related to foreclosures.

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