Default Notices Down 27%, but REO Sets New Monthly Record

A total of 103,762 properties received default notices in April, a decrease of 12% from March and down 27% from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac. Even with these substantial drops, the number of properties now part of real estate owned hit a record monthly high for the report with a total of 92,432 properties repossessed by lenders, up 1% from the previous month and up 45% from April 2009. RealtyTrac expects a similar pattern to continue for most of this year "with the overall numbers staying at a high level and ripples of activity hitting the various stages of the foreclosure process as lenders systematically work through the backlog of distressed properties." In total, foreclosure filings were reported on 333,837 properties in April, a 9% decrease from March and down 2% from April 2009. Of this, foreclosure auctions were scheduled on 137,643 properties in April, a decrease of 13% from March. Nevada posted the nation's highest state foreclosure rate for the 40th straight month. A 57% monthly increase in REO activity pushed the state's overall foreclosure activity up 10% from March. Arizona saw a decrease of 15% from the previous month, but the state's foreclosure rate moved from third highest in March to second highest in April thanks to an even bigger decrease in California. The state reported 69,725 properties with a foreclosure filing, although that total was down 25% from March and 28% a year ago. Florida activity was down 18% from the previous month and down 25% from April 2009, but the state still documented the nation's second highest state foreclosure activity total, with 48,384 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Metro areas in the sand states of Nevada, Florida, California and Arizona continued to account for all of the top 10 foreclosure rates among metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more, but foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis in nine of those top 10 metros.