RealtyTrac: Detroit, Stockton, Las Vegas post highest 2007 foreclosure rates
 
IRVINE, Calif. – Feb. 13, 2008 – Florida has a problem with foreclosures, but it’s worse in California. While Florida cities ranked near the top in RealtyTrac’s ranking of top 2007 foreclosure markets, the city with the highest number, Miami, came in only at No. 8 on the list of the top 100.

RealtyTrac’s Year-End 2007 Metropolitan Foreclosure Report shows that Detroit, Stockton, Calif., and Las Vegas documented the three highest foreclosure rates among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas during 2007.
 
“As expected, the number of properties entering some stage of foreclosure in 2007 was up in the vast majority of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, with 86 metros reporting increases from 2006,” says James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Most of the metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates were either cities like Stockton and Las Vegas, which experienced meteoric growth and unsustainable price appreciation over the past few years, or cities like Detroit, which are undergoing a more widespread economic downturn along with higher unemployment rates.”
 
California, Ohio, Florida and Michigan cities dominate top 20 metro rates
Fifteen of the metro areas with the top 20 metro foreclosure rates were located in four states: California with six, Ohio with four, Florida with three and Michigan with two.
 
Detroit registered the highest foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, with close to 5 percent of its households entering some stage of foreclosure during the year – 4.8 times the national average and up from about 3 percent in 2006.
 
With 2.724 percent of its households entering some stage of foreclosure in 2007, Miami documented the eighth highest metro foreclosure rate, highest among Florida metro areas. A total of 51,662 foreclosure filings on 25,296 properties were reported in the metro area during 2007, up 106 percent from 2006. Other Florida metro areas with foreclosure rates in the top 20 were Fort Lauderdale at No. 10 and Orlando at No. 20.
 
The household numbers are based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005 estimates of total housing units. Foreclosure filings include foreclosure-related documents in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).

Foreclosures in Florida cities

RealtyTrac rank	Metro area	Foreclosure rate (% of households)	% change from 2006
8	Miami	2.724	106.13
10	Fort Lauderdale	2.632	110.05
20	Orlando	1.932	117.74
21	Palm Beach	1.924	88.9
23	Tampa/St. Pete	1.908	95.9
24	Sarasota/Bradenton	1.840	226.69
27	Jacksonville	1.748	38.99

 
© 2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
 

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