Real estate foreclosure rates soar in Sunbelt
May 27, 2005
Texas, Florida account for one-third of nation's activity
Inman News
Real estate properties in the process of foreclosure increased in April from the previous month, according to data released today from RealtyTrac.
The number of new properties in foreclosure rose to 64,057 in April, which is 2.6 percent higher than the 62,422 reported in March. This increase was markedly lower than the 17 percent increase in March, possibly indicating a one-month temporary spike in the foreclosure market rather than the beginning of a trend, RealtyTrac reported.
Texas narrowly surpassed Florida as the state with the highest rate of property in some stage of foreclosure, with one property in foreclosure for every 694 households. In Florida, which had the highest rate of foreclosure in the previous two months, there was one property in foreclosure for every 719 households. Both states' foreclosure rates were more than 2.5 times the national average.
Texas is also the home of the county with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation: Rockwell County had one property in foreclosure for every 136 households, which is more than 13 times the national average, according to RealtyTrac.
Following Texas and Florida, the states with the highest foreclosure rates included Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Arizona replaced Georgia in the top five, with more than two times the national average, while Georgia's foreclosure rate dropped below the national average. Almost two-thirds of Arizona foreclosure properties were in the highly populated Maricopa County.
RealtyTrac publishes a national database of pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties, with more than 550,000 properties in more than 1,900 counties across the country.
Copyright 2005 Inman News
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