California and Ohio Cities Account for 10 of Top 20 Metro Foreclosure Rates

RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its 2007 Midyear Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, which shows Stockton, Calif., Detroit and Las Vegas documenting the three highest foreclosure rates among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas during the first six months of the year. McAllen, Texas, Greenville, S.C., and Richmond, Va., registered the three lowest metro foreclosure rates in the report.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1 million properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“This report clearly demonstrates that not all local housing markets are flooded with foreclosures,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “While foreclosure activity has skyrocketed over the past year in many cities, particularly in California, Ohio and the Northeast, foreclosure activity seems to be subsiding in parts of Texas, South Carolina and other states. Still, the overall trend is toward escalating foreclosure rates, with 82 of the top 100 metro areas reporting year-over-year increases in the number of homes affected by foreclosure.

Stockton, Detroit, Las Vegas document highest metro foreclosure rates
With one foreclosure filing for every 27 households, Stockton, Calif., reported the highest foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas during the first half of 2007. The metro area, comprised of San Joaquin County, reported a total of 8,169 foreclosure filings on 4,239 properties, more than twice the number of properties reported in the previous six-month period and more than triple the number reported in the first six months of 2006.

Detroit documented the second highest foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas — one foreclosure filing for every 29 households. The metro area, comprised of Wayne County, reported 28,705 foreclosure filings on 20,231 properties, a 26 percent increase from the previous six-month period and nearly double the number reported in the first six months of 2006.

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Las Vegas documented the third highest foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, with one foreclosure filing for every 31 households during the first half of 2007. The metro area, which comprises Clark County, reported 22,928 foreclosure filings on 13,028 properties, a 72 percent increase from the previous six-month period and more than twice the number reported in the first six months of 2006.

Other cities in the top 10 were Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., Sacramento, Calif., Denver, Miami, Bakersfield, Calif., Memphis and Cleveland.

Riverside-San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Atlanta report most foreclosure filings
The Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area in Southern California reported 41,351 foreclosure filings on 22,291 properties during the first half of 2007, the most total filings of any metro area and a foreclosure rate of one filing for every 33 households — fourth highest among the top 100 metro areas. The number of properties with foreclosure filings in Riverside-San Bernardino nearly tripled from the first six months of 2006.

The Los Angeles metro area reported the second highest total, with 38,199 foreclosure filings on 20,288 properties during the first half of the year. The city’s foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 87 households ranked 29th among the top 100 metro areas.

Atlanta’s total of 36,502 foreclosure filings on 22,412 properties was the third highest among the 100 top metro areas. The number of properties with foreclosure filings during the first half of 2007 increased 17 percent from the first half of 2006, and the city’s foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 54 households ranked No. 12.

Other cities with foreclosure filing totals among the 10 highest included Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Dallas, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Sacramento.