Total foreclosure filings up 51 percent from Q2; Up 241 percent from Q3 2008.

Mississippi reported 2,220 properties with foreclosure filings in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 51 percent from the previous quarter and 241 percent above the level reported in the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest RealtyTrac^® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. 

Foreclosure activity in Mississippi was up more than 187 percent in September from the previous month to 1,417 properties with foreclosure filings and up 401 percent from September 2008.

“Foreclosure activity swelled again in Mississippi in the third quarter of 2009 as unemployment remained high,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Mississippi recorded 8.8 percent unemployment in September, down 9.7 from August. Still, Mississippi is faring better than many other states in terms of keeping its number of foreclosures down.”

One in every 565 Mississippi housing units received a foreclosure filing during the third quarter, ranking 40^th among the 50 states.

Hinds County leads state in foreclosure rate and activity in the third quarter

Hinds County posted the highest county foreclosure rate in the state for the third quarter, with one in every 124 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — 4.6 times the state average. De Soto County posted the second highest county foreclosure rate, with one in every 149 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter — 3.8 times the state average. Rankin County posted the third highest foreclosure rate, where one in every 205 housing units received a foreclosure filing — 2.8 times the state average.

Hinds County leads state in foreclosure activity in the third quarter

Hinds County also led the state in foreclosure activity, reporting 855 properties with foreclosure filings for the quarter. De Soto County had the second highest foreclosure total, reporting 395 properties with foreclosure filings. Rankin County came in third, tallying 267 properties with foreclosure filings. Harrison County posted the fourth highest foreclosure activity for the quarter, reporting 183 properties with foreclosure filings. Madison County documented 54 properties with foreclosure filings, the state’s fifth highest foreclosure total in the quarter.

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

Mississippi accounted for less than 1 percent of the 937,840 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide for the third quarter and less than 1 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.

Mississippi Top Foreclosure Rates By County – Q3 2009

Mississippi Top Foreclosure Totals by County – Q3 2009

Mississippi Top Foreclosure Rates By County – Sept 2009

Mississippi Top Foreclosure Totals by County – Sept 2009