Foreclosures up 4% in November

From RealtyTrac via PR/Newswire:

November’s Foreclosure Rate Highest of the Year

RealtyTrac(R) (http://www.realtytrac.com/), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its November 2006 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows that 120,334 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure during the month, an increase of 4 percent from the previous month and an increase of 68 percent from November 2005. The report also shows a national foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 961 U.S. households, the highest monthly foreclosure rate reported so far this year.
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“Defaults, auctions and bank repossessions all trended higher in November, bringing the year-to-date foreclosure total to almost 1.2 million — up 43 percent from the same 11-month period of 2005,” said James J. Saccacio. “With home price appreciation slowing, and even declining in some areas of the country, homebuyers who stretched themselves financially to purchase a property don’t have much equity to work with if they experience even a small bump in their mortgage rate or disruption in their income. However, the recent dip in interest rates, combined with relatively low unemployment in most areas of the country, should keep foreclosures from accelerating to the point where they impact the entire housing market.”

Nevada beats out Colorado for highest foreclosure rate

After eight consecutive months with Colorado posting the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, Nevada’s foreclosure rate jumped to the top spot thanks to a 12 percent increase in foreclosure activity from the previous month. Nevada reported 2,506 properties entering some stage of foreclosure during the month, nearly triple the number reported in November 2005 and a foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 346 households — 2.8 times the national average.

Colorado foreclosure activity decreased nearly 10 percent from the previous month, helping the state’s foreclosure rate — one new foreclosure filing for every 362 households — drop to second highest among the states. The state reported 5,051 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, still up 88 percent from November 2005.

With one new foreclosure filing for every 439 households, Georgia documented the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate for the second month in a row. The state reported 7,056 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, a 2 percent increase from the previous month and a nearly 60 percent increase from November 2005.

Other states with foreclosure rates among the nation’s 10 highest were Ohio, Texas, Michigan, California, New Jersey, Indiana and Tennessee.