Total foreclosure filings down less than 1 percent from Q2; rate ranked fourth in nation.

Florida reported 156,924 properties with foreclosure filings in the third quarter of 2009, a decrease of less than 1 percent from the previous quarter but still 23 percent above the level reported in the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest RealtyTrac^® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. One in every 56 Florida housing units received a foreclosure filing in the third quarter, the fourth highest state foreclosure rate in the nation.

Foreclosure activity in the Sunshine State was down more than 11 percent in September from the previous month to 55,036 properties with foreclosure filings, but remained elevated on a yearly basis, up 15 percent from September 2008. The state’s foreclosure rate was third highest in the nation for the month — with one in every 158 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 2.4 times the national average.

“Although Florida’s foreclosure activity decreased for both the third quarter and in September, it was still up from the same time last year in both cases,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The largest increase was bank-owned properties, which were up 15 percent for the year. The overall rise is not surprising as the state’s current unemployment rate is now 11 percent – the highest it has been since 1975.”

As it has for almost two years now, California continues to lead the nation in total foreclosure activity by a large margin on both a monthly and quarterly basis. For the third quarter, it reported 250,054 properties with foreclosure filings. Florida posted the second highest activity level, while Arizona reported 50,342 properties with foreclosure filings, third highest level in the nation. Nevada came in fourth highest, reporting 47,925 properties with foreclosure filings during the quarter, while Illinois tallied the fifth highest total, documenting 37,270 properties with foreclosure filings. The top five states alone represented 58 percent of all foreclosure filings in the nation during the quarter.

For September, the nation’s top 5 states for total foreclosure filings were California (86,337), Florida (55,036), Nevada (18,766), Michigan (16,767), and Georgia (14,972). Activity in the top five states accounted for 58 percent of the nation’s foreclosure total in September.

Lee County posts state’s top foreclosure rate in third quarter

With one in every 27 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — five times the national average and twice the state average — Lee County posted the highest county foreclosure rate in the state for the third quarter. Osceola County was a close second, with one in every 28 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter — also five times the national average and twice the state average. Third highest rate was posted by Saint Lucie County, where nearly one in every 28 housing units received a foreclosure filing — 4.9 times the national average and double the state average.

Five counties account for bulk of state foreclosure activity for third quarter

Foreclosure activity in five counties accounted for 51 percent of all activity in the state during the third quarter. Broward County led all counties, tallying 23,273 properties with foreclosure filings for the quarter. Miami-Dade County came in second highest, reporting 21,424 properties with foreclosure filings. Lee County came in third, tallying 13,206 properties with foreclosure filings. Fourth highest for the quarter was Orange County, reporting 12,814 properties with foreclosure filings. Palm Beach County documented 9,013 properties with foreclosure filings, the state’s fifth highest foreclosure total in the quarter.

State a major contributor to nation’s activity for quarter and in September

Florida accounted for 17 percent of the 937,840 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide for the third quarter and 16 percent of the 343,638 properties with foreclosure filings reported for September. Total U.S. activity declined 5.4 percent between the second and third quarter of the year, but was up 23 percent from the third quarter of 2008. One in every 136 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter, the highest quarterly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in 2005.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month — broken out by type of filing at the county, state and national level. RealtyTrac’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If more than one foreclosure document is filed against a property during the month — which is extremely rare — only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

Florida Top Foreclosure Rates by County – Q3 2009

Florida Top Foreclosure Totals by County – Q3 2009

Florida Top Foreclosure Rates by County – Sept 2009

Florida Top Foreclosure Totals by County – Sept 2009