RealtyTrac: Fla. still No. 1 in foreclosure rates

                                    

FREE List of Foreclosures in South Florida

 

IRVINE, Calif. – April 10, 2014 – According to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure report for March, Fla. has retained its No. 1 status for homes in some stage of foreclosure, with one in every 407 Florida homes with a mortgage affected.

And in a look at metro areas (populations of 200,000 or more), Florida cities hold eight of the top 10 spots.

March 2014

RealtyTrac’s report finds that 5,815 Florida homeowners received their first foreclosure notice in March; 9,983 were notified of a foreclosure sale; and 6,258 homes transferred to bank ownership (REOs). However, the total number of impacted homeowners in all stages fell 8.79 percent month-to-month when compared to Feb. 2014 and 21.92 percent year-to-year.

First quarter 2014

Looking at January through March, Florida foreclosure activity in first quarter 2014 decreased less than 1 percent quarter-to-quarter, but it declined 19 percent year-to-year. Still, Florida retained its top spot even though its foreclosure activity has decreased annually for three consecutive quarters.

First quarter 2014 metro areas

Port St. Lucie, Fla. – where one out of every 99 housing units had a foreclosure filing in the first quarter – led the nation’s cities, though seven other Florida cities also made the top 10.
 
Miami came in at No. 2 (one in every 106 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville at No. 3 (one in every 112); Orlando at No. 4 (one in every 120); Tampa at No. 5 (one in every 122); Lakeland at No. 6 (one in every 127); Ocala at No. 7 (one in every 130); and Jacksonville at No. 8 (one in every 134).

Nationwide, 29 states posted annual increases in scheduled foreclosure auctions. While Florida’s scheduled auctions rose 21 percent, it ranked tenth for auction sales behind Utah (up 226 percent), Oregon (up 177 percent), Connecticut (up 131 percent), New Jersey (up 79 percent), Delaware (up 49 percent), New York (up 47 percent), Maryland (up 46 percent), Massachusetts (up 37 percent) and Nevada (up 21 percent).

Other findings

• Foreclosed homeowners still live in 51 percent of REOs nationwide out of homes with occupancy data. However, no Florida cities ranked in the top five for owner-occupied REOs.
• It takes 935 days to foreclose on a Florida home as of the first quarter, but it takes longer in two other states: New Jersey (1,103 days to foreclose) and New York (986 days). Hawaii (840 days) and Illinois (830 days) round out the top five.

RealtyTrac posts an interactive Florida map that compares foreclosure rates color-coded by county. Scroll across a county to see its foreclosure statistics. 
© 2014 Florida Realtors®