RealtyTrac released their Midyear 2011 Metro foreclosure report showing that foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis in 178 out of the nation’s largest 211 metropolitan areas which is some much needed good news! Unfortunatley for California, Nevada and Arizona, they just can’t let go of their strong-hold on the top 10 list of having metros with the highest foreclosure rates. Florida is showing signs of improvement however, with only one metro area in the top 2o and that was Cape Coral-Fort Myers and number 12, a great improvement over a year ago when Florida metro’s accounted for 9 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates in the country. Other metro’s showing up on the top 20 foreclosure rate list were: Boise City-Nampa, Idaho, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga., Greeley, Colo., and Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Foreclosure activity continued to slow in the first half of 2011, especially in the most foreclosure-saturated markets and in markets where the judicial foreclosure process is used,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The 20 metro areas with the biggest year-over-year decreases in foreclosure activity were all in states with judicial foreclosure processes — New York, Maryland, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Illinois.

“These dramatic decreases indicate the foreclosure pipeline continues to be clogged in many local markets across the country, sometimes by a glut of already-foreclosed properties that are not selling quickly, sometimes by a mountain of improperly filed foreclosures that are blocking the inflow of new foreclosure filings — and sometimes by both.”

Top 10 metro foreclosure rates

Las Vegas continues to be the star of the show in terms of foreclosure rates, posting the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate with one out of every 19 housing units (5.36 percent) receiving a foreclosure notice during the first half of this year which works out to six-times the national average. Reno-Sparks was another Nevada metro area with a foreclosure rate ranking among the top 10 in the first half of 2011. One in every 34 housing units (2.96 percent) in the Reno-Sparks area received a foreclosure filing during the six-month period, the nation’s seventh highest metro foreclosure rate.

Even though foreclosure activity was down from the prior period, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz., metro area still posted the nation’s second highest metro foreclosure rate during the first half of 2011, up from the seventh highest metro foreclosure rate in the first half of 2010.

Seven California metro areas posted foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s top 10, led by Modesto at No. 3 with one in every 30 housing units (3.32 percent) receiving a foreclosure filing. Other California cities in the top 10 were Stockton at No. 4 (3.24 percent); Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at No. 5 (3.21 percent); Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 6 (3.09 percent); Bakersfield at No. 8 (2.78 percent); Merced at No. 9 (2.78 percent); and Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville at No. 10 (2.53 percent).

Trends in the 20 largest metros are encouraging..

Nineteen of the nation’s 20 most-populated metro areas had a year over year decrease in foreclosure activity in the first half of 2011 with Seattle being the only exception, showing almost a 10 percent increase from the year before.

The biggest loser..

Baltimore takes the cake here with a 74 percent year over year decrease in foreclosure activity, pushing Baltimore down to number 182 on the list from 83 a year ago. Washington D.C. followed, droppign from number 67 a year ago down to number 131 in the first half of 2011.

Top 20 Metro Foreclosure Rates — 2011 Midyear

Rate Rank	Metro Name	Properties with Filings	%HU	1/every X HU	%Chg from Jul-Dec 10	%Chg from Jan-Jun 10	Rate Rank Jan- Jun 10
—	U.S. Total	1,170,402	0.90	111	-25.49	-29.27
1	Las Vegas-Paradise, NV	43,944	5.36	19	-18.10	-17.90	1
2	Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	60,985	3.51	28	-8.41	-16.86	7
3	Modesto, CA	5,824	3.32	30	-20.90	-27.51	3
4	Stockton, CA	7,422	3.24	31	-18.21	-25.77	6
5	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	46,959	3.21	31	-16.19	-26.30	5
6	Vallejo-Fairfield, CA	4,655	3.09	32	-14.60	-20.90	9
7	Reno-Sparks, NV	5,413	2.96	34	-14.54	-20.44	11
8	Bakersfield, CA	7,633	2.78	36	-20.65	-23.75	12
9	Merced, CA	2,334	2.78	36	-26.35	-37.63	4
10	Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville, CA	21,721	2.53	39	-17.39	-20.36	14
11	Fresno, CA	7,431	2.40	42	-8.87	-10.80	21
12	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	8,699	2.38	42	-44.35	-52.15	2
13	Prescott, AZ	2,475	2.32	43	2.53	-8.60	27
14	Visalia-Porterville, CA	3,199	2.30	43	-14.51	-14.72	19
15	Boise City-Nampa, ID	5,336	2.20	45	-20.43	-16.88	22
16	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA	44,160	2.04	49	-18.02	-15.69	30
17	Greeley, CO	1,925	2.04	49	-28.25	-17.52	29
18	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	5,192	1.89	53	-13.02	-16.85	32
19	Tucson, AZ	7,939	1.85	54	1.44	-5.16	39
20	Salt Lake City, UT	7,417	1.85	54	-17.30	-10.38	36

SOURCE: REALTY TRAC

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