Foreclosures drop by 8 percent in November

According to RealtyTrac, 306,627 foreclosure filings were reported in November, a decrease of nearly 8 percent from the previous month but still 18 percent higher than this time last year. One in every 417 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in November.

Although foreclosure rates are higher than they were in 2008, there is good news—they have declined 15 percent from their peak in July. Further, November represents the fourth straight month that U.S. foreclosure activity has dropped.

RealtyTrac believes foreclosure prevention efforts such as loan modifications, combined with the recently extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit, are largely responsible for the steady decline in foreclosure filings.  

Other interesting findings:
• The top state for foreclosure activity is Nevada, where one in every 119 housing units received a foreclosure filing in November—3.5 times the national average. Rounding out the top 10 are Florida in second place, followed by California, Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, Illinois, Utah, Maryland and New Jersey.
• Four states—California, Florida, Illinois and Michigan—account for more than 50 percent of national total foreclosure activity.
• After four straight months as the nation’s top foreclosure-rate city with a population of at least 200,000, Las Vegas surrendered this crown to Merced, Calif., where one in every 83 housing units received a foreclosure filing in November.
• Rounding out the top 10 cities with the highest foreclosure rates are Stockton (second place), followed by Modesto, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Las Vegas, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Bakersfield, Orlando-Kissimmee, Vallejo-Fairfield and Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville.