Detroit had top foreclosure rate in '07
LOS ANGELES (AP) - February 13, 2008 Some 4.9 percent of the households in the Detroit metro area
were in some stage of foreclosure in 2007 - 4.8 times the national
average, according to the study being released Wednesday by
mortgage research company RealtyTrac Inc.
Stockton, Calif., ranked second with about 4.8 percent of its
households in some stage of foreclosure, while the Las Vegas metro
area was third with a 4.2 percent rate.
Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac determines the ranking by
comparing the number of households in a metro area with the number
of foreclosure filings, which include notices of default, auction
sale notices or bank repossessions.
In all, 72,616 filings on 41,273 properties were reported in the
Detroit metro area, which includes Livonia and Dearborn. The
foreclosure rate represents a 68 percent jump from 2006, RealtyTrac
said.
Michigan has been in a protracted economic downturn and has led
the nation in unemployment, a combination that has caused many
homeowners to fall behind on mortgage payments.
Another Michigan metro area comprising Warren, Farmington Hills
and Troy was ranked 17th, with 2.1 percent of its households facing
foreclosure.
"As expected, the number of properties entering some stage of
foreclosure in 2007 was up in the vast majority of the nation's 100
largest metro areas, with 86 metros reporting increases from
2006," James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac,
said in a statement.
In California, where home values more than tripled since 1995,
plunging home prices and tighter lending standards chilled the
market, leaving many financially strapped homeowners - some facing
steep payment hikes from mortgage rate resets - with few options.
The slump has been steepest in inland regions that experienced a
run-up in home prices and new construction toward the end of the
housing boom, so it's not surprising that several of the six cities
in the state that ended up ranked among the top 20 metro areas are
located in the Central Valley and inland counties in Southern
California.
In Stockton, 22,184 foreclosure filings were reported on 10,608
properties last year, up 271 percent from 2006, RealtyTrac said.
The Riverside-San Bernardino metro area east of Los Angeles was
ranked fourth, with 102,506 filings on 51,739 homes, a rate of 3.8
percent.
Sacramento was ranked fifth, with 3.1 percent of its households
reporting late payments.
The other California metropolitan areas in the top 20 were
Bakersfield, ranked seventh; Fresno, ranked 14th; and Oakland at
16th.
The Las Vegas metro area, which also includes Paradise, Nev.,
reported a total of 59,983 foreclosure filings on 30,375 properties
in 2007.
Ohio, which has also been wracked by high unemployment, had four
metro areas among the top 20, including Akron at 12th, Dayton at
15th and Toledo at 19th.
The metro area comprising Cleveland, Lorain, Elyria and Mentor
was ranked sixth, with some 2.9 percent of all households in some
stage of foreclosure, RealtyTrac said.
Miami ranked eighth with a 2.7 percent rate, the highest among
all metro areas in Florida. Fort Lauderdale was 10th and Orlando
was 20th.
The other areas in the top 20 were Denver-Aurora, Colo., at No.
9; Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., at No. 11; Memphis, Tenn.,
at No. 13.; and Indianapolis at No. 18.
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On the Net:
RealtyTrac Inc.: http://www.realtytrac.com