Foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions—were reported on 205,990 U.S. properties in May, an increase of 9 percent from April but still down 4 percent from May 2011, according to RealtyTrac’s latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. One in every 639 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month.
Other findings from the report:
- Foreclosure activity rose back up above the 200,000 level in May after two consecutive months below 200,000.
- Foreclosure starts nationwide increased on an annual basis after 27 consecutive months of year-over-year declines.
- Judicial states combined posted a 26 percent year-over-year increase in overall foreclosure activity while nonjudicial states combined posted a 20 percent year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity.
- Foreclosure starts increased on a year-over-year basis in 17 of the 26 judicial states and in 16 of the 24 nonjudicial states.
- Georgia leapfrogged past Arizona, Florida, California and Nevada to post the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate in May, the first time since February 2006 that Georgia’s foreclosure rate has ranked highest among the states.