WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the text of the RealtyTrac’s
October U.S. Foreclosure Market Report published Thursday:

RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for
foreclosure properties, today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market
Report for October 2012, which shows foreclosure filings – default
notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – were reported on
186,455 U.S. properties in October, an increase of 3 percent from
September but still down 19 percent from October 2011. The report also
shows one in every 706 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing
during the month.

“We continued to see vastly different foreclosure trends across the
country in October, depending primarily on how each state’s foreclosing
infrastructure was able to handle the high volume of delinquent loans
during the worst of the foreclosure crisis in 2010,” said Daren
Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac.”Unfortunately the three states
dealing with the biggest rebound in deferred foreclosure activity – New
Jersey, New York and Connecticut – also had to deal with the devastation
to homes inflicted by super storm Sandy. The foreclosure moratoriums
being put into effect as a result of the storm will likely extend the
already-lengthy time to foreclose in these states, further prolonging a
fundamentally sound housing recovery.”

High-level findings from the report:

– The three states with the biggest annual increases in foreclosure
activity in October were New Jersey (140 percent), New York (123
percent) and Connecticut (41 percent). Other states with sizable
increases were Maryland (27 percent), Ohio (24 percent) and Illinois (19
percent).

– An analysis of foreclosure activity and inventory in the counties
most impacted by super storm Sandy in Connecticut, New Jersey and New
York shows foreclosure activity in October was down 8 percent from
September but up 92 percent from a year ago, and an estimated $41
billion in foreclosure inventory in those counties.

– Florida posted the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for the
second month in a row, with one in every 312 housing units with a
foreclosure filing in October, followed by Nevada, Illinois, California
and Arizona.

– Scheduled foreclosure auctions in October increased 9 percent
from September, while default notices and bank repossessions (REO) were
virtually unchanged from the previous month.

– Foreclosure activity increased on a month-over-month basis in
more than half of the 212 metro areas tracked in the report, and jumped
significantly in some hard-hit metro areas, including Modesto, Calif.
(up 68 percent), Sarasota, Fla. (up 53 percent), Las Vegas, Nev. (up 45
percent), Columbus, Ohio (up 61 percent), and Columbia, S.C. (up 58
percent).

Analysis of foreclosure activity and rates in counties impacted by
Sandy

In the 34 counties in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York that are
being given individual assistance by FEMA, a total of 6,380 properties
had foreclosure filings in October, down 8 percent from September but an
increase of 92 percent from October 2011. Despite the sharp
year-over-year increase, the foreclosure rate in those counties combined
was less than half the national average: one in every 1,467 housing
units with a foreclosure filing.

As of the end of October, total inventory of properties in some
stage of foreclosure or bank owned in these counties was 124,608, up 15
percent from the previous month and up 54 percent from October 2011. The
estimated combined market value of foreclosure inventory in the impacted
counties was more than $41 billion.

Fannie Mae owned the biggest percentage of REO inventory of any
lender in the impacted counties in all three states, with 29 percent in
New York, 25 percent in New Jersey, and 22 percent in Connecticut. Other
lenders with large percentages of REO inventory in the impacted counties
included Wells Fargo, US BankCorp and Deutsche Bank.

Foreclosure starts increase from previous month, down from a year
ago

Foreclosure starts – default notices or scheduled foreclosure
auctions, depending on the state – were filed for the first time on
89,209 U.S. properties in October, a 2 percent increase from September
but still down 19 percent from October 2011 – the third straight month
with an annual decrease in foreclosure starts.

Foreclosure starts increased from the previous month in 26 states,
including Nevada (54 percent), Tennessee (52 percent), Minnesota (28
percent), North Carolina (26 percent), New York (17 percent) and Georgia
(16 percent).

Foreclosure starts increased from a year ago in 15 states,
including New Jersey (286 percent), Washington (163 percent), New York
(163 percent), Pennsylvania (42 percent), North Carolina (38 percent),
and Nevada (20 percent).

Bank repossessions decrease annually for 24th straight month

Lenders completed the foreclosure process on 53,478 U.S. properties
in October, down less than 1 percent from the previous month but down 21
percent from October 2011 – the 24th straight month with an annual
decrease in REO activity.

REO activity decreased annually in 37 states and the District of
Columbia. Some of the biggest decreases were in Oregon (81 percent),
Virginia (72 percent), Washington (56 percent), Nevada (50 percent),
Texas (41 percent), Michigan (35 percent), Arizona (33 percent), and
California (20 percent).

States with some of the biggest annual increases in REO activity
included Connecticut (44 percent), Maryland (38 percent), South Carolina
(37 percent), New York (33 percent) and Georgia (22 percent).

Florida, Nevada, Illinois post highest state foreclosure rates

Florida registered the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate for
the second month in a row. One in every 312 Florida housing units had a
foreclosure filing in October – more than twice the national average. A
total of 28,783 Florida properties had a foreclosure filing in October,
up 2 percent from the previous month and a 12-month high, but the
October 2012 total was still 13 percent below the October 2011 total.

A 41 percent monthly increase in overall foreclosure activity
helped push the Nevada foreclosure rate to the second highest in the
nation in October, up from the nation’s fifth highest foreclosure rate
in September. One in every 352 Nevada housing units had a foreclosure
filing during the month, twice the national average. Foreclosure starts
(NOD) in Nevada increased 54 percent from the previous month and were up
20 percent from a year ago – the first annual increase in Nevada
foreclosure starts after 32 consecutive months of annual decreases.
Nevada REOs increased 69 percent from the previous month but were still
down 50 percent from a year ago.

One in every 356 Illinois housing units had a foreclosure filing in
October, the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate. A total of
14,899 Illinois properties had a foreclosure filing during the month, a
6 percent increase from the previous month and a 19 percent increase
from a year ago – the 10th consecutive month where Illinois documented
an annual increase in foreclosure activity.

Other states with foreclosure rates among the nation’s 10 highest
were California (one in every 379 housing units with a foreclosure
filing), Arizona (one in 420 housing units), Georgia (one in every 439
housing units), Ohio (one in every 476 housing units), Colorado (one in
563 housing units), South Carolina (one in every 601 housing units), and
Michigan (one in every 607 housing units).

Foreclosure activity increases from previous month in 53 percent of
metros

October foreclosure activity increased from the previous month in
113 of the 212 metropolitan statistical areas tracked in the report (53
percent). Six of the metro areas with the 10 highest foreclosure rates
documented a monthly increase in foreclosure activity, including
Modesto, Calif. (68 percent), Visalia-Porterville, Calif. (58 percent),
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla. (71 percent).

Twenty-six of the metro areas with the 50 highest foreclosure rates
documented a monthly increase in foreclosure activity, including
Sarasota, Fla. (53 percent), Las Vegas, Nev. (45 percent), Columbus,
Ohio (61 percent) and Columbia, S.C. (58 percent).

** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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