National foreclosure activity was down in June compared to the previous month, but is still well above activity for the same month a year ago, a foreclosure reporting service said today.
According to RealtyTrac, a total of 164,644 foreclosures were filed in June, down 7 percent from May and up 87 percent from June 2006. The company’s report also shows a national foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 704 U.S. households for the month.
“Foreclosure activity subsided somewhat in June after hitting a 30-month high in May,” said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac. “And the drop in activity was fairly broad, with 33 states reporting month-over-month decreases. Still, the foreclosure rates in most states remained substantially above last year’s levels.”
Nevada, California and Colorado posted the top foreclosure rates in the nation, RealtyTrac said.
With one foreclosure filing for every 175 households in June, Nevada documented a foreclosure rate more than four times the national average and highest among the states for the sixth month in a row. The state reported 4,722 foreclosure filings during the month, a decrease of 10 percent from the previous month but more than three times the number reported in June 2006.
Despite a 2 percent month-over-month dip in foreclosure activity, California registered the nation’s second-highest state foreclosure rate, one foreclosure filing for every 315 households — up from third highest the previous month and 2.2 times the national average. The state reported 38,801 foreclosure filings during the month, the most of any state for the sixth month in a row and more than three times the number reported in June 2006.
Colorado’s foreclosure rate dropped from second highest to third highest thanks in part to a 10 percent month-over-month decrease in foreclosure activity in June. The state reported 5,705 foreclosure filings during the month, a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 317 households — still more than twice the national average.
RealtyTrac has been criticized by some who claim that the statistics inflate the total number of foreclosure filings. The Colorado state Division of Housing, for example, conducted a review concluding that RealtyTrac, among other foreclosure data providers, may exaggerate foreclosure data by counting some properties multiple times.
California, Florida and Ohio documented the largest foreclosure totals among the states, RealtyTrac reported.
Following California, Florida and Ohio registered the nation’s second- and third-highest state foreclosure filing totals in June. Florida reported 21,035 foreclosure filings during the month, a 3 percent decrease from the previous month but still more than double the number reported in June 2006. The state’s foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 347 households was more than twice the national average and ranked fourth highest among all the states.
Ohio reported 11,879 foreclosure filings in June, a 10 percent decrease from the previous month but a 100 percent increase from June 2006. With one foreclosure filing for every 403 households, the state’s foreclosure rate was 1.7 times the national average and ranked sixth highest among the states.
California cities continue to have the top metropolitan foreclosure rates, according to RealtyTrac.
California cities reported six of the nation’s top 10 metropolitan foreclosure rates in June, and the top four spots were occupied by California cities: Stockton, Merced, Modesto and Riverside-San Bernardino. All of the top four cities registered foreclosure rates that were more than five times the national average. Other California cities in the top 10 were Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 7 and Sacramento at No. 8.
Las Vegas saw a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 138 households, giving it the fifth-highest metro foreclosure rate, RealtyTrac reported. The foreclosure rate in Greeley, Colo., one foreclosure filing for every 146 households, ranked sixth highest.
