Just how bad is the housing situation in Nevada? According to the latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac, Nevada foreclosure activity decreased 26 percent from the previous quarter and was down 62 percent from the first quarter of 2011, but the state still posted the nation’s top foreclosure rate. One in every 95 Nevada housing units had a foreclosure filing during the first quarter.
The tide may be turning though, as the state’s foreclosure rate slipped to the second highest among the states in March, after 62 consecutive months in the No. 1 spot. Arizona’s foreclosure rate was the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate in March.
Although California default activity increased from February to March — up 14 percent — the state’s overall foreclosure activity in the first quarter was down on a quarterly and annual basis. The California foreclosure rate still ranked second highest among all states in the first quarter, with one in every 103 housing units with a foreclosure filing.
One in every 106 Arizona housing units had a foreclosure filing in the first quarter, the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate. Arizona foreclosure activity during the quarter was down 4 percent from the previous quarter and was down 41 percent from the first quarter of 2011.
Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 in the first quarter were Georgia (one in 119 housing units with a foreclosure filing), Florida (one in 123), Illinois (one in 141), Michigan (one in 162), Colorado (one in 191), Utah (one in 198) and Wisconsin (one in 206).
California’s 133,245 properties with foreclosure filings in the first quarter was the highest total of any state and accounted for 23 percent of U.S. foreclosure activity during the quarter. Florida posted the second highest state total, with 73,344 properties with foreclosure filings during the quarter. Florida foreclosure activity in the first quarter increased 4 percent from the previous quarter and was up 26 percent from the first quarter of 2011.
Illinois foreclosure activity increased 17 percent from the previous quarter and was up 14 percent from the first quarter of 2011, helping the state post the nation’s third highest state foreclosure total in the first quarter: 37,660 properties with foreclosure filings.
Other states with foreclosure activity totals among the nation’s 10 highest were Georgia (34,234), Michigan (27,934), Arizona (26,956), Texas (23,807), Ohio (23,780), Pennsylvania (12,746) and Wisconsin (12,727).
U.S. properties foreclosed in the first quarter took an average of 370 days to complete the foreclosure process, up from 348 days in the previous quarter and the highest average number of days going back to the first quarter of 2007.
Average foreclosure timelines appear to be turning a corner in some bellwether states. The average time to foreclose in California was 320 days, down from 352 days in the previous quarter and the second straight quarterly decrease after 12 straight quarterly increases.
The average time to foreclose also decreased in Colorado, Utah, Massachusetts, Nevada, Michigan and Maryland. Despite the decrease, Maryland still posted the fifth longest time to foreclose, 618 days. The states with the top four longest times to foreclose were New York (1,056 days), New Jersey (966 days), Florida (861 days) and Illinois (628 days).