Total foreclosure filings up 7 percent from Q2; rate ranks seventh in nation.

Georgia reported 33,385 properties with foreclosure filings in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 7 percent from the previous quarter and 25 percent above the level reported in the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest RealtyTrac^® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

One in every 119 Georgia housing units received a foreclosure filing in the third quarter, the seventh highest state foreclosure rate in the nation.

Foreclosure activity in the Peach State was up 25 percent in September from the previous month to 14,972 properties with foreclosure filings, and remained elevated on a yearly basis, up 61 percent from September 2008. The state’s foreclosure rate was seventh highest in the nation for the month — with one in every 265 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 1.4 times the national average.

“Foreclosure activity in Georgia increased for both the third quarter and September,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “The largest increase was in defaults, which climbed 26 times the second quarter numbers. The state’s unemployment rate remains above the national average and home sales are not picking up this year as they have in many other states. These trends need to turn around before we see a reduction in foreclosure numbers.”

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 — reporting 156,924 properties with foreclosure filings. 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. Activity in the top five states accounted for 58 percent of the nation’s foreclosure total in September.

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

With one in every 39 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 3.5 times the national average and 3.1 times the state average — Newton County posted the highest county foreclosure rate in the state for the third quarter. Henry County was a close second, with one in every 50 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter — 2.7 times the national average and 2.4 times the state average. Third highest rate was posted by Walton County, where one in every 52 housing units received a foreclosure filing — 2.6 times the national average and 2.3 times the state average.

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

Foreclosure activity in five counties accounted for 46 percent of all activity in the state during the third quarter. Fulton County led all counties, tallying 4,534 properties with foreclosure filings for the quarter. Gwinnett County came in second highest, reporting 3,722 properties with foreclosure filings. Dekalb County came in third, tallying 3,195 properties with foreclosure filings. Fourth highest for the quarter was Cobb County, reporting 2,459 properties with foreclosure filings. Clayton County documented 1,493 properties with foreclosure filings, the state’s fifth highest foreclosure total in the quarter.

State a contributor to nation’s foreclosure activity for quarter and month

Georgia accounted for 4 percent of the 937,840 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide for the third quarter and 4 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.

Georgia Top Foreclosure Rates by County – Q3 2009

Georgia Top Foreclosure Totals by County – Q3 2009

Georgia Top Foreclosure Rates by County – Sept 2009

Georgia Top Foreclosure Totals by County – Sept 2009