By Susan A. Baird
PBN Web Editor
IRVINE, Calif. – The number of foreclosure actions reported statewide increased last month in Rhode Island but fell slightly in Massachusetts compared with May, as the situation nationwide worsened sharply.
In Rhode Island, a total of 1,660 foreclosure actions were reported in June: 1,150 foreclosure sales and 510 real estate owned (REO) properties foreclosed and repurchased by the bank (figures on default filings are not available for Rhode Island). That represented an increase of 5 percent from the preceding month. In June 2007, 284 foreclosure filings were reported statewide, 7.98 percent more than the month before, but RealtyTrac said its year-ago results for the state are not directly comparable with last month’s because of recent improvements in local data collection.
In Massachusetts last month, 16,173 foreclosure actions were reported: 6,734 defaults, 4,367 notices of sales and 5,072 REOs. That represented a decline of 1.18 percent compared with May, RealtyTrac said. In June 2007, 3,117 foreclosure filings were reported statewide, 27.81 percent fewer than the month before, but RealtyTrac said its year-ago results for the state are not directly comparable with last month’s because of recent improvements in local data collection.
Nationwide, the number of foreclosure actions rose to 261,255, an increase of 7.36 percent compared with May and 48.32 percent compared with a year ago. That included 112,731 default filings, 74,730 sale notices and 73,794 REOs.
“Although much of the fallout from foreclosures is being driven by rampant activity in a few states – such as Nevada, California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan – most areas of the country are seeing at least some increase in foreclosure activity,” RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said in a statement today. “Forty-eight of 50 states and 95 out of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in the second quarter.
“Bank repossessions, or REOs, accounted for 30 percent of total foreclosure activity in the second quarter, up from 24 percent of the total in the first quarter,” he said. “This shift in the distribution of activity indicates that there is a progression toward purging the problem loans out of the system – at which point the housing market can regain some sense of normalcy.
“Of course,” Saccacio said, “if another surge in defaults occurs, which could well happen later this year, it would refill the foreclosure pipeline and prolong the recovery.”
Last month’s average foreclosure-sales rate nationwide – excluding default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions – was one for every 171 households. That represented a sharp increase from the May rate of one foreclosure sale for every 483 households.
Rhode Island had the nation’s 17th highest rate in June – up from 18th in May and 24th in April – with one foreclosure sale for every 510 households.
The Bay State was No. 9 nationwide – improving from its eighth-place ranking in May, but lagging its 10th-place showing in April – with a June rate of one for every 168 households.
Nevada remained No. 1 for the 18th consecutive month, worsening to one for every 43 households from May’s one per every 118. California remained No. 2, with a rate that worsened to one filing for every 65 households. Arizona, with one sale for every 70 households, was No. 3 for a third month. Filling out the Top 10 were Florida, at No. 4, followed by Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Massachusetts and Illinois.
Among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, foreclosure rates ranged from a high of one foreclosure sale for every 25 households in Stockton, Calif., to a low of one for every 1,331 households in metro Honolulu. The Providence-Fall River-New Bedford metro area came in at No. 63, RealtyTrac said.
RealtyTrac Inc. is a publisher of data and advice for real estate markets nationwide. To learn more, visit www.RealtyTrac.com.
