2011 Foreclosure Rate Down 34 Percent

We all know that housing foreclosures have been a big problem for Americans in the past few years. With the shaky economy and high unemployment rates, many people have had issues paying off their mortgages. In 2011, however, it looks as though Americans were given a bit of collective relief. Both the total U.S. foreclosure activity and the U.S. foreclosure rate were at their lowest annual level since 2007. That is good news.

According to RealtyTrac's Year-End 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, there were nearly 2.7 milliion foreclosure filings in 2011. This includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. These were reported on nearly 1.9 million properties, which is actually a decrease of 34 percent in total properties compared to 2010.

This means that approximately 1 in 69 houses had at least one foreclosure filing during 2011.

The reason for this decrease in the total number of foreclosures may have more to do with the dysfunctional foreclosure process than anything. Right now, many houses are hanging in limbo. It seems as though all the paperwork has been a problem, leaving delinquent mortgages at a standstill. However, lenders are finally starting to get some of these delayed foreclosures moving. This may boost foreclosure activity in 2012.
The states that have seen the most foreclosure filings in 2011 are Nevada, Arizona and California. In Nevada, one in 16 houses have had at least one filing. That is 6 percent of houses, giving it the nation's highest foreclosure rate for 5 years in a row even though it had a 31 percent decrease in activity compared to 2010.

Arizona was the nation's second highest state foreclosure rate for 3rd consecutive year. It had 1 in 24 houses with filing activity.

California had a 38 percent drop in default notices in December compared to November, but it was still considered the third highest rated state in foreclosure activity. One in every 31 houses in California had activity associated with it.

Fourth was Georgia with 1 in 37 houses with foreclosure activity, followed by Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Colorado and Idaho to round out the top 10.


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