1.65 Million Properties Receive Foreclosure Filings in First Half of 2010

July 22, 2010

June marks the third straight monthly decrease in overall foreclosure filings.

A total of 1,961,894 foreclosure filings—default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions—were reported on 1,654,634 U.S. properties in the first six months of 2010, according to the Midyear 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released by RealtyTrac.

The number of total properties receiving a foreclosure filing experienced a five percent decrease from the previous six months but was still up 8 percent from the first six months of 2009. The report also shows that 1.28 percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 78) received at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of the year.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 313,841 U.S. properties in June, a decrease of nearly 3 percent from the previous month and a decrease of nearly 7 percent from June 2009. June was the sixteenth straight month where the total number of properties with foreclosure filings exceeded 300,000.

“The midyear numbers put us on pace to exceed 3 million properties with foreclosure filings by the end of the year, and more than 1 million bank repossessions,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

Nearly six percent of all Nevada housing units (one in 17) received at least one foreclosure filing in the first half of 2010, giving Nevada the nation's highest foreclosure rate during the six-month period despite decreasing foreclosure activity. A total of 64,429 Nevada properties received a foreclosure filing from January to June, a decrease of 13 percent from the previous six months and a decrease of 6 percent from the first six months of 2009.

Arizona registered the nation's second highest state foreclosure rate in the first half of 2010, with 3.36 percent of its housing units (one in 30) receiving a foreclosure filing, and Florida registered the nation's third highest state foreclosure rate, with 3.15 percent of its housing units (one in 32) receiving a foreclosure filing during the six months.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation's 10 highest were California (2.54 percent), Utah (1.91 percent), Georgia (1.79 percent), Michigan (1.73 percent), Idaho (1.68 percent), Illinois (1.61 percent) and Colorado (1.40 percent).