Foreclosures slow, still near record

RealtyTrac reports a six percent decrease in foreclosure activity during the month of May, down slightly from record levels seen in recent months but up 18 percent from year ago.

"May foreclosure activity was the third highest month on record, and marked the third straight month where the total number of properties with foreclosure filings exceeded 300,000 — a first in the history of our report,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “While defaults and scheduled foreclosure auctions were both down from the previous month, bank repossessions, or REOs, were up 2 percent thanks largely to substantial increases in several states, including Michigan, Arizona, Washington, Nevada, Oregon and New York. We expect REO activity to spike in the coming months as foreclosure delays and moratoria implemented by various state laws come to an end.”

It's the usual "trouble states" of Nevada, California, Florida, and Arizona that are producing most of the defaults, the top ten states accounting for almost 80 percent of all foreclosures.

For a complete table see this handy summary at USA Today. Back to RealtyTrac...

Nevada continued to document the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 64 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month — more than six times the national average.

With one in every 144 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, California posted the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate despite a 4 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month.

Florida posted the third highest state foreclosure rate in May, with one in every 148 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.

Arizona posted the fourth highest state foreclosure rate in May, with one in every 158 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, and Utah posted the fifth highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 316 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s 10 highest were Michigan, Georgia, Colorado, Idaho and Ohio.

One out of 64 homeowners receiving a default notice in just one month is a pretty startling statistic. A year at that rate would be the equivalent of almost 20 percent of all homeowners getting foreclosure notices.

A graphic might help add some context to the numbers above.
Maybe adding a few more colors might be a wise thing to do in order to more accurately depict just what is going on in the greater Las Vegas area.