In case you needed some validation as to the magnitude of the surge in borrower defaults this year, RealtyTrac’s latest foreclosure report — released today — found that borrower defaults surged 55 percent in the first half of 2007. The RealtyTrac data showed that a total of 925,986 foreclosure filings were reported on 573,397 unique properties nationwide during the first six months of the year.
Nevada, Colorado, California post top foreclosure rates Nevada posted the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, with one foreclosure filing for every 40 households during the first half of 2007. The state reported a total of 25,208 foreclosure filings on 14,687 properties, more than double the number of foreclosure filings reported in the previous six-month period … Colorado reported one foreclosure filing for every 60 households during the first half of 2007, the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate … With one foreclosure filing for every 69 households during the first half of 2007, California registered the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate. The state reported a total of 189,560 foreclosure filings on 104,572 properties, up 122 percent from the previous six-month period and up 232 percent from the first half of 2006 … California, Florida, Texas, Ohio document largest foreclosure totals California’s foreclosure filing total and unique property count were both highest among all the states in the first half of 2007. Florida reported the second highest totals, with 102,213 foreclosure filings on 64,250 properties. Texas reported 69,471 foreclosure filings in the first half of 2007 — the nation’s third highest foreclosure filing total … Ohio reported 60,728 total foreclosure filings, the fourth most of any state.
RealtyTrac also introduced a new statistic, which it is calling the “unique property” count — the idea is that this statistic tracks the number of unique properties that have been subject to any default-related action (NOD, NOS, etc.). By this measure, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Virginia exhibited the biggest increase in default activity in the first half of 2007 versus the year-ago period. These are not typical default-activity hotspots, as any mortgage industry insider can tell you.
