One New Foreclosure Filing for Every 879 U.S. Households, Activity Remains High
Foreclosure listing activity across the nation remained at a high level in the month of July 2007. The total number of properties either entering or moving through some stage of the foreclosure process was 131,574 or one foreclosure for every 879 households in the U.S.According to data compiled by Bargain Network (bargain.com), an online provider of real estate foreclosures, the number of residential homes either entering or moving from one stage of foreclosure showed little movement. Total foreclosure filings dipped only slightly from 86.5 to 85.3% in July. However, foreclosure listing activity in the Condo/Town home and Multi-Family sectors continued to rise. The Condo/Town home sector for July was 7.4%, up from 7.2% in June and Multi-Family filings were up 2.0 from 1.7%.
Five States Represented Largest Percentage of U.S. Foreclosure Activity
Five states accounted for 61% of the total number of foreclosure listing filings. California had the highest number of foreclosure home listings for the month, with 29,931 homes entering some phase of the foreclosure process. This represented a 5% increase in foreclosure filing activity for California from the previous month.
Florida was second with 27,395 foreclosure home filings and a 14% increase in activity since June. Texas took third place with 8,975 foreclosure filings, or one foreclosure home listing for every 898 households. Illinois and Nevada rounded off the top five states with 7,040 and 6,649 foreclosure listing filings respectively. Nevada’s foreclosure saturation rate was the highest in the U.S. for July, with an estimated one filing for every 131 households. Florida was second in foreclosure saturation with approximately one foreclosure filing for every 267 households, and Colorado rounded off the top three states with the highest saturation rates with one filing for every 287 households.
While month-to-month foreclosure home listing activity appeared to decline in several states, a few showed sharp increases in overall foreclosure filing activity for July. Rhode Island demonstrated the largest increase in foreclosure filings with a 37% increase over the previous month. Foreclosure activity also increased in Kansas (36%), the District of Columbia (32%) and Missouri (28%).
Single Family Homes Continue to Dominate Foreclosure Listings Activity
The foreclosed homes activity rate noted only slight changes from the previous month’s 86.5% to 85.3% in July. A large percentage of the foreclosure activity continued to occur in the single family residence market. The condominium and town home markets totaled approximately 7.4% of the foreclosure home filings for July 2007, up from 7.2% in June. The remaining estimated 7.3% of foreclosure activity was comprised of commercial; land, mobile home, multi-family and miscellaneous listings.
Single Family Residence Foreclosure Rates
In the majority of states, foreclosure activity in the single family residence market accounted for more than the national average of 85.3%. Thirty-five states including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico and South Dakota were trending above the national average.
Condo/Town home Foreclosure Rates
Five states posted notably higher than average (7.4%) rates of Condo/Town home foreclosures. Hawaii topped the list at 29.2%, followed by Florida at 13.9% and California at 10.4%. Rounding off the top five were Massachusetts (10.2%) and Alaska (7.8%).
Land Foreclosure Rates
Arkansas reported that 8.1% of its foreclosure activity was in the land market segment, over three times the national average of 2.6%. Florida (6.7%) and New Jersey (3.7%) rounded off the top three states for total foreclosure filings categorized as “Land Type” real estate properties.
Multi-Family Units Foreclosure Rates
In July Multi-Units Foreclosures remained high and accounted for 2% of all foreclosure activity. Rhode Island noted a 28.8% increase in multi-family home foreclosures, followed by Massachusetts (20.3%) and Connecticut (16%).
Commercial Foreclosure Rates
Seventeen states saw higher than average foreclosure activity in this sector. Idaho (5.9%), Montana (2.3%) and Alaska (2.2%) experienced the most activity in this particular category. Commercial Foreclosure listing activity represented 0.4% for the month of July of all total foreclosure activity tracked.
The Bargain Network Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Trend Report provides foreclosure activity information and changes based on the total number of homes entering some stage of foreclosure nationwide. Data is also available at the individual state level. Bargain Network’s report includes real estate properties in all three phases of foreclosure: Pre-foreclosures — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Foreclosures — 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).
For more information, visit www.bargain.com/homes.
