A record 2.9 million properties received foreclosure filings in 2010, up 2 percent from 2009 and up 23 percent from 2008, reported Realty Trac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties. Also, 2.23 percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 45) received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, up from 2.21 percent in 2009.
Yet, there were 257,747 foreclosure filings for December 2010 – a 20-month low and a 26 percent drop from December 2009.
Explaining this drop, James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, said an estimated quarter million foreclosure filings were halted due in part to controversy surrounding foreclosure documentation and procedures that prompted many lenders to temporarily halt foreclosure proceedings. He predicted that the temporarily-halted filings that were stopped in late 2010 will likely be restarted in the first quarter of 2011.
Nevada was the state with the highest rate of foreclosure activity for the fourth consecutive year, with one in 11 housing units (9 percent) receiving a filing in 2010, despite a 5 percent decrease from 2009. Following Nevada is Arizona, with one in 17 housing units receiving a filing, and Florida, where one in 18 housing units were foreclosed. Other states showing high rates of foreclosure are California, Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado.
California had the highest total number of filings at 546,669, and Florida posted the second biggest total, at 485,296. Other states with high totals of filings are Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Texas and Ohio.
RealtyTrac began tracking foreclosure filings foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, in January 2005. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide, which account for more than 90 percent of the nation’s population.
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Written by Clare Pierson
