Christian Conte
Mar 11, 2010
Foreclosure filings in Florida jumped 16.47 percent in February compared with the same period last year and climbed 14.79 percent from January, RealtyTrac reported.
Last month there were a total of 54,032 foreclosure filings — which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — in Florida. One in every 163 Florida households was in some form of foreclosure.
According to the February 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, foreclosure filings were reported on 308,524 U.S. properties during the month, a decrease of 2 percent from the previous month but still 6 percent above February 2009. One in every 418 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing in February.
The 6 percent year-over-year increase was the smallest annual increase since January 2006, when RealtyTrac began calculating year-over-year increases.
Florida had the third most foreclosure filings in the nation in February. Nevada ranked No. 1.
Nevada foreclosure activity actually decreased nearly 7 percent from the previous month and was down 30 percent from February 2009, but the state’s foreclosure rate continued to rank highest in the nation for the 38th month in a row. One in every 102 Nevada housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month — more than four times the national average.
Arizona had the second most foreclosure filings last month.
The six states with the most foreclosure activity accounted for 61 percent of the national total in February. California led the way, with 68,562 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.
The Las Vegas metro area had the highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 90 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, despite a 9 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month.
Two Florida metro areas were in the top 10 for metro foreclosure rate. Cape Coral-Fort Myers saw a 31 percent increase in foreclosure activity from the previous month, giving it the second highest metro foreclosure rate — one in every 92 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. An increase of nearly 66 percent in foreclosure activity from the previous month helped boost the foreclosure rate in Port St. Lucie to sixth highest.
