U.S. Foreclosures up 81% in 2008

Posted by Buddy Blake on Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 9:45 PM By Buddy Blake / January 15, 2009 Comment

Foreclosure filings were reported on more than 2.3 million properties, or one in 54 homes, in 2008. That's an 81% increase from 2007 and a 225% increase from 2006, according to foreclosure data firm RealtyTrac.

Nevada led the nation with the highest foreclosure rate of 7.29%, followed by Florida at 4.52% and Arizona at 4.49%. The U.S. foreclosure rate was 1.84% for the year.

State moratoriums and stays from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had helped slow the pace of foreclosures for the fourth quarter of 2008, but by December that effect had worn off. The number of foreclosure filings last month jumped 17% from November and 41% compared with December 2007, according to RealtyTrac. And with prices continuing to slide in most markets, more Americans are now making a conscious decision to walk away from their homes.

"Clearly the foreclosure programs implemented to date have not had any real success in slowing down this foreclosure tsunami," James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive, said in a statement.

States ranked by 2008 foreclosure rates

Rank	State	Total Foreclosure Filings	Total Properties with Filings	% chg. from 2007	% chg. from 2006	% Housing Units (foreclosure rate)
1	Nevada	123,989	77,693	125.74	529.5	7.29
2	Florida	501,396	385,309	133.11	411.68	4.52
3	Arizona	152,621	116,911	203.13	655.04	4.49
4	California	837,665	523,624	109.86	497.91	3.97
5	Colorado	66,795	50,396	27.9	61.41	2.41
6	Michigan	145,365	106,058	21.61	107.89	2.35
7	Ohio	146,099	113,570	26.22	155.4	2.25
8	Georgia	116,225	85,254	44.36	117.07	2.2
9	Illinois	115,063	99,488	54.7	126.01	1.91
10	New Jersey	69,612	62,514	101.2	186.84	1.8
11	Indiana	61,141	45,937	64.18	113.59	1.67
12	Tennessee	51,496	44,153	70.38	127.87	1.65
13	Utah	18,657	14,836	99.46	68.25	1.65
14	Massachusetts	53,797	44,342	150	577.08	1.64
15	Connecticut	25,510	21,925	84.87	570.49	1.53
16	Virginia	67,695	49,011	200.55	1746.68*	1.52
17	Rhode Island	7,334	6,583	258.16*	1525.43*	1.46
18	Maryland	41,582	32,338	71.29	945.18	1.41
19	Idaho	11,272	8,512	133.85	302.08	1.38
20	Missouri	42,054	31,254	33.04	139.11	1.19
21	Oregon	25,049	18,001	112.75	168.67	1.13
22	New Hampshire	8,018	6,636	436.03*	5430.00*	1.13
23	Arkansas	16,611	14,277	122.87	198.06	1.12
24	Texas	129,201	96,157	13.84	14.96	1.04
25	Washington	32,271	26,058	71.61	116.64	0.97
26	Minnesota	23,716	20,282	75.5	336.74	0.89
27	North Carolina	41,750	33,819	16.21	153.14	0.84
28	Wisconsin	25,164	19,695	62.33	249.02	0.78
29	Oklahoma	16,059	12,465	50.98	32.86	0.78
30	South Carolina	16,136	14,995	253.07*	220.41*	0.76
31	Alaska	2,265	1,946	46.1	96.76	0.7
32	Pennsylvania	42,949	37,210	127.18	68.88	0.68
33	Delaware	2,998	2,516	151.85*	701.27*	0.66
34	Hawaii	3,346	3,185	229.71	489.81	0.64
35	New York	55,641	50,032	29.32	129.23	0.63
36	Kansas	7,983	6,218	155.46	179.96	0.51
37	New Mexico	4,543	3,727	24.48	38.29	0.44
38	Maine	3,171	2,851	896.85*	5602.00*	0.41
39	Nebraska	3,326	3,190	-12.27	25.84	0.41
40	Iowa	6,405	5,385	31.25	135.77	0.41
41	Louisiana	7,837	7,129	79.66	111.42	0.39
42	Kentucky	8,820	7,244	41.9	45.46	0.38
43	Alabama	8,436	7,764	39.34	184.19	0.37
44	Montana	1,220	1,246	8.35	32.55	0.29
45	Wyoming	921	677	90.17	165.49	0.28
46	Mississippi	2,364	2,293	62.74	181.35	0.18
47	North Dakota	391	371	48.4	148.99	0.12
48	South Dakota	405	402	1575.00*	793.33*	0.11
49	West Virginia	687	685	48.91	170.75	0.08
50	Vermont	124	137	372.41*	705.88*	0.04
	District of Columbia	4,631	4,182	438.22*	3245.60*	1.48
--	U.S.	3,157,806	2,330,483	81.24	224.8	1.84
*Actual increase may not be as high due to data collection changes or improvements

U.S. Foreclosures up 81% in 2008

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