2.87 Million Properties In The United States Received Foreclosure Filings in 2010



Foreclosures IllustrationAccording to RealtyTrac's "Year-End 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report", 3,825,637 foreclosure filings were received on 2,871,891 US properties in 2010. The number of US properties to receive foreclosure notices was up 1.67% from 2009 and 23.23% from 2008.

In total, 1 out of every 45 housing units in the United States received a foreclosure filing (default notice, scheduled auction and bank repossession) in 2010.

According to RealtyTrac, five states accounted for more than half of the foreclosure filings in 2010. They were: California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan. California led the way once again in 2010, as a total of 546,669 properties in the state received a foreclosure filing during the year. This meant that 1 out of every 25 housing units in the state received a foreclosure filing during 2010. The good news is that California saw a 13.58% drop in the number of foreclosure filings from 2009.

Florida posted the second highest foreclosure filing total in 2010, as a total of 485,286 properties in the state received a filing sometime during the year. This meant that 1 out of every 18 properties in Florida received a foreclosure filing during 2010.

In terms of foreclosure filings per housing unit, Nevada led the way once again in 2010, as 1 out of every 11 housing units in the state received a foreclosure filing last year.

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According to James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, "Total properties receiving foreclosure filings would have easily  exceeded 3 million in 2010 had it not been for the fourth quarter drop in foreclosure activity - triggered primarily by the continuing controversy surrounding foreclosure documentation and procedures that prompted many major lenders to temporarily halt some foreclosure proceedings".

This means that the number of foreclosure filings should ramp higher in the early months of 2011 as lenders "catch up" on their filings.

In total, 1 million US homes were foreclosed upon in the United States in 2010. RealtyTrac expects that this number will rise to 1.2 million in 2011, but that this will be the "peak" of the current housing downturn.

The expected 1.2 million foreclosures in 2011 will continue to add to supply, which should mean that the US real estate market is in for another drop in 2011.

Source: RealtyTrac.com - Record 2.9 Million U.S. Properties Receive Foreclosure Filings in 2010 Despite 30-Month Low in December

Filed under: Real Estate News

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