No Change As Five States Hammered By Foreclosures

All real estate is local. The foreclosure rates in some states have dropped back near 2007 levels. In others they remain so high that prices, effected by low price foreclosed inventory, will not recover for years.

Corelogic reports that almost half of the foreclosures in the twelve months through April were in five states:

California (142,000), Florida (92,000), Michigan (60,000), Texas (58,000) and Georgia (57,000). These five states account for 48.8 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.

Of course, the total size of the populations in these states skews the results.

It is also no surprise that the urban areas with the largest drops in home prices from the 2006 peak, coupled with high unemployment, have the largest percentage of total home inventory in foreclosure. In Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL the number is 12.4%. In Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL, the figure is 12.3%. The numbers from state to state continue to be driven in part by the manner in which foreclosures go through the legal system. In states in which the process is extremely fast, a larger number of the foreclosed home have been processed.

The amount of data on the housing market remains varied and confused. Yesterday’s Case-Shiller data showed Atlanta as the most troubled market with home prices down 17.4%  year over year in March. Corelogic reports that Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA has 2.7% of inventory in foreclosure–a relatively low number. Each piece of research in a different snap-shot in time, and covers a different set of information

The real estate market is a mess. So is the real estate data business.

Douglas A. McIntyre