Report: Foreclosure Filings Hit 306K Properties Last Month

Foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — hit 306,627 U.S. properties in November, the ninth straight month of 300,000-plus filings, reported RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosures.

The November figure represented a decrease of nearly 8 percent from the previous month, but foreclosure filings are still up 18 percent from November 2008, according to RealtyTrac. One in every 417 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in November, the report said.

November marked the fourth consecutive month that U.S. foreclosure activity declined after hitting an all-time high in the RealtyTrac report in July. And “November foreclosure activity was at the lowest level we’ve seen since February,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

“Loan modifications and other foreclosure prevention efforts, along with the recently extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit, are keeping a lid on the most visible symptoms of the nation’s ailing housing market —  foreclosures and home value depreciation,” he said.

But, Saccacio added, “a full recovery will only come when unemployment recedes to normal, healthy levels and when availability of credit reaches a more rational balance between the extremes of the past few years.”

This week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the U.S. bailout programs will intensify efforts to help homeowners facing foreclosure through modifications in mortgage terms. Also this week, a Congressional oversight panel and mortgage industry experts criticized U.S. efforts under it’s Home Affordable Modification Program, HAMP, to lower mortgage payments for struggling homeowners. The toughest criticism has been that the program has not addressed the growing negative equity issue facing prime borrowers.

According to RealtyTrac, Nevada, Florida and California posted the top state foreclosure rates in November.

Nevada foreclosures declined by a double-digit percentage for the second straight month, but the state retained the nation’s top foreclosure rate with one in every 119 properties receiving a foreclosure filing in November — 3.5  times the national average.

A total of 9,295 Nevada properties fell into foreclosure in November, a 33 percent decrease from the previous month and also a 33 percent decrease from November 2008.

Florida posted the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate in November, with one in every 165 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Florida took the No. 2 spot from California, which registered the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate — one in every 180 housing units falling into foreclosure.

After three straight months of declines, Arizona foreclosures increased nearly 8 percent in November. Arizona claimed the nation’s fourth highest foreclosure rate with one in every 186 housing units moving into foreclosure.