As Congress finally passed its landmark housing-rescue package over the weekend, which aims to help some 400,000 strapped homeowners from losing their homes, foreclosure filings across the country continued to pile up.
During the second quarter of this year, 739,714 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice, or one in every 171 U.S. households, according to RealtyTrac, which gauges the foreclosure market. The number of foreclosures jumped 14 percent from the first quarter of 2008 and a whopping 121 percent - more than double - compared to the same three-month period last year.
According to RealtyTrac's Q2 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market report, Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida continue to lead the nation with the highest foreclosure rates. One in every 43 Nevada households received a filing during the second quarter. Other states with foreclosure rates among the top 10 were Georgia, Massachusetts and Illinois. Foreclosure filings increased year-over-year in all but two states, North Dakota and Alaska.
Top 20 metro areas
The report also ranks the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas by foreclosure rate. California and Florida metro areas accounted for 16 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates, with the California cities of Stockton and Riverside-San Bernardino taking the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
One in every 25 Stockton households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter - nearly seven times the national average. And one in every 32 households in the Riverside-San Bernardino received a foreclosure filing during the second quarter, which is more than five times the national average.
Other California metro areas in the top 20 were:
· Bakersfield, No. 4
· Sacramento, No. 5
· Oakland, No. 8
· Fresno, No. 9
· San Diego, No. 11
· Orange, No. 15
· Ventura, No. 16
· Los Angeles, No. 19
Las Vegas posted the third highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 35 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Foreclosure filings were reported on 21,742 Las Vegas metro properties during the quarter, up more than 25 percent from the previous quarter and up nearly 144 percent from the second quarter of 2007.
The highest ranked Florida metro area was Fort Lauderdale, which ranked No. 6 with one in every 51 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter.
Other Florida metro areas in the top 20 were:
· Miami, No. 10
· Orlando, No. 13
· Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, No. 14
· Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, No. 17
· Palm Beach, No. 18
One in every 51 households in the Phoenix metro area received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, ranking No. 7; one in every 66 households in the Detroit metro area received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, ranking No. 12; and one in every 91 households in the Atlanta metro area received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, ranking No. 20.
"Although much of the fallout from foreclosures is being driven by rampant activity in a few states, such as Nevada, California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan, most areas of the country are seeing at least some increase in foreclosure activity," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac said in a statement. "Forty-eight of 50 states and 95 out of the nation's 100 largest metro areas experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity in the second quarter."
Economists estimated 2.5 million homes nationwide will enter the foreclosure process this year, up from about 1.5 million in 2007.
Hopefully, this estimate will fall short. While the new housing rescue bill will not solve all of the housing markets troubles, industry groups say the legislation is expected to help half the projected 2.5 million homeowners refinance into more afforable loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration and avoid foreclosure. But how soon this plan will start deflating the foreclosure blob plaguing the country is anyone's guess.
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