Repossessions Hit Another ‘All Time’ High In US

Another 342,000 US properties slipped in to foreclosure during April – a 1% increase setting a new high on the previous month’s record.This figure brings the US property in foreclosure total to 1,882,672 homes in the past seven months alone.Currently 1 in 347 US homes are threatened by foreclosure – the US version of the UK’s mortgage repossession. Filings include default notices on mortgage payments, auction sale notices and actual bank repossessions.

In a year, the number of homeowners facing foreclosure has soared by 32% Ten states account for more than 75% of all foreclosures:
1.    California – 96,650 foreclosures
2.    Florida – 64,588
3.    Nevada – 16,266
4.    Arizona – 16,245
5.    Illinois – 13647
6.    Ohio – 12,324
7.    Georgia – 11,521
8.    Texas – 11,314
9.    Michigan – 10,830
10.     Virginia – 6,254

The worst urban area for foreclosures in April for cities with a population of more than 200,000 people was Las Vegas, with 14,073 cases. The figure is equivalent to 1 in 56 of mortgaged homes in the city – seven times the national average.This makes Las Vegas a good bet as the best city to pick up below market value US properties with an average of 50,000 properties selling at auction at $200,000 each.

Following not far behind was the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida metro area. Two other Florida metro areas also posted top 10 foreclosure rates: Miami at No. 9 and Orlando at No. 10 The rest of the top 10 metropolitan areas for distressed US property were all in California.The statistics are from the US foreclosure site RealtyTrac  and were published on May 13, 2009.

“Total foreclosure activity in April ended up slightly above the previous month, once again hitting a record-high level,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Much of this activity is at the initial stages of foreclosure – the default and auction stages – while bank repossessions were down on a monthly and annual basis to their lowest level since March 2008.

“This suggests that many lenders and servicers are beginning foreclosure proceedings on delinquent loans that had been delayed by legislative and industry moratoria. It’s likely that we’ll see a corresponding spike in bank repossessions as these loans move through the foreclosure process over the next few months.”