Foreclosures Also Up in Southeast, Southwest

Meanwhile, foreclosures in the Southeast and the Southwest have already exceeded half of those recorded in the first quarter of 2006, according to ForeclosureS.com.Florida was the hardest-hit state in the Southeast, with nearly 11,500 foreclosure filings in January, accounting for over half the region's 20,199 filings, the company reported. In the Southwest, 50,404 foreclosure filings were recorded in January, compared with 94,631 in the entire first quarter of last year. Alexis McGee, president of the firm, said California (with 25,107 filings), Texas (with 10,296), and Colorado (with 4,968) are still among the top five states nationally in foreclosures, but noted improvement elsewhere in the region. "In Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, the numbers of filings actually are flat to down," she said. "And even in Colorado, where filings typically have gone through the roof, thus far this quarter the state's filings are less than a third of the total 16,006 for the entire first-quarter 2006."