California Foreclosure Activity Drops in February

Statewide filings down 6 percent from January; Rate second highest

Foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 48,422 California properties in February, a 6 percent decrease from January and 14 percent below the level reported for February 2011, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

The Golden State maintained its position as the state with the second highest foreclosure rate, reporting one in every 283 California housing units with a foreclosure filing in February.

California continues to lead the nation in terms of total properties with foreclosure filings by a large margin. Second ranked Florida reported 26,337 properties with foreclosure filings during the month. Third place was Illinois, where 13,298 properties with foreclosure filings were reported. Georgia moved up to the fourth highest total, reporting 12,356 properties with foreclosure filings while Michigan dropped a spot to fifth place, tallying 10,467 properties with foreclosure filings.

The remaining states that make up the nation’s top 10 in February include Texas (9,554), Ohio (9,445), Arizona (9,131), Pennsylvania (4,494) and Wisconsin (4,403). The top 10 accounted for 71 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure activity for the month.

Sierra County posts top foreclosure rate in the state for February
 One in every 137 housing units in Sierra County had a foreclosure filing in February — 4.7 times the national average and 2.1 times the state average — the highest foreclosure rate of all California counties for the month. Lake County had the second highest rate of one in every 150 housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month — 4.2 times the national average and 1.9 times the state average. Yuba County had the third highest rate of one in every 157 housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month — 4.1 times the national average and 1.8 times the state average.

Southern California continues to lead the state in foreclosure totals in February
 Four Southern California counties topped the list for highest foreclosure totals in the state for February. Los Angeles County continued to lead all counties by a large margin, reporting 9,936 properties with foreclosure filings for the month. Riverside County remained second highest, reporting 4,770 properties with foreclosure filings. San Bernardino County was third, reporting 4,287 properties with foreclosure filings. Fourth highest was San Diego County, recording 3,403 properties with foreclosure filings. Sacramento County was the only Northern California county in the top five, tallying 2,942 properties with foreclosure filings for the month.

State the nation’s largest contributor to total foreclosure activity in February
 California accounted for 23 percent of the 206,900 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide in February. Total U.S. activity decreased by 2 percent from January and was down over 8 percent from the level reported in February 2011. One in every 637 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

“February’s numbers point to a gradually rising foreclosure tide as some of the barriers that have been holding back foreclosures are removed,” said Brandon Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac. “Although national foreclosure activity was pushed lower by decreases in a handful of larger states, 21 states posted annual increases in foreclosure activity, the most states with annual increases since November 2010.

“The foreclosure and mortgage settlement filed in court earlier this week will help pave the way to a properly functioning foreclosure process by providing a clear roadmap for necessary foreclosures,” Moore continued. “That should result in more states posting annual increases in the coming months. Not surprisingly, many of the biggest annual increases in February were in states with the more bureaucratic judicial foreclosure process, which resulted in a larger backlog of foreclosures built up over the last 18 months in those states.”

California Top Foreclosure Rates By County – February 2012

County	NOD	LIS	NTS	NFS	REO	Total	1/every X HU (rate)	/Natl. Avg.	/State Avg.
United States	23,058	35,828	60,700	23,480	63,834	206,900	637	n/a	n/a
California	19,439	0	20,439	0	8,544	48,422	283	2.25	n/a
Sierra	9	0	4	0	4	17	137	4.65	2.06
Lake	105	0	71	0	60	236	150	4.23	1.88
Yuba	61	0	56	0	59	176	157	4.05	1.80
Solano	399	0	411	0	136	946	161	3.94	1.75
San Bernardino	1,768	0	1,863	0	656	4,287	163	3.90	1.73

 California Top Foreclosure Totals by County – February 2012 

County	NOD	LIS	NTS	NFS	REO	Total	1/every X HU (rate)	% Chg Jan 12	% Chg Feb 11
United States	23,058	35,828	60,700	23,480	63,834	206,900	637	-1.92	-8.09
California	19,439	0	20,439	0	8,544	48,422	283	-6.13	-13.88
Los Angeles	4,126	0	4,433	0	1,377	9,936	347	-6.74	-18.60
Riverside	1,875	0	2,096	0	799	4,770	168	-0.83	-14.68
San Bernardino	1,768	0	1,863	0	656	4,287	163	-1.47	-6.25
San Diego	1,393	0	1,527	0	483	3,403	342	-10.40	-8.84
Sacramento	1,107	0	1,129	0	706	2,942	189	3.63	-3.41