Foreclosures Rise 15% Year-Over-Year, REOs Up 31%

Foreclosure filings, including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were reported on 315,716 U.S. properties in January, a decrease of 10% from December 2009 but still 15% higher than a year ago, according to RealtyTrac. Real estate owned activity nationwide was down 5% from December but still up a whopping 31% from January 2009 while default notices decreased 12% month-to-month but increased 4% from a year ago. "If history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure alternatives works," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac. Despite a year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity of 18%, Nevada's foreclosure rate remained highest among the states. RealtyTrac found one in every 95 Nevada housing units was the subject of a filing. California, Florida and Arizona posted the three highest state totals in terms of properties with filings, and together they accounted for more than 44% of the national total. Illinois reported 18,120 properties with a foreclosure filing, a 2% increase from December and a 25% increase from January 2009. Michigan posted the nation's fifth highest total, with 17,574 properties receiving a foreclosure filing, and Texas posted the sixth highest total, with 12,225 properties. Other states with totals among the 10 highest in the country were Nevada (11,854), Georgia (11,274), Ohio (11,105) and New Jersey (6,146).