11 of 20  Largest U.S. Metros Post Increases, all in Midwest, South and East Coast
    Non-Judicial  Activity Down 29 Percent Annually, Judicial Activity Up 15 Percent

IRVINE, Calif. – May 17, 2012 — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online  marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its U.S. Foreclosure  Market Report™ for April 2012, which shows foreclosure filings — default  notices, scheduled auctions and bank  repossessions — were reported on 188,780 U.S. properties in April, the  lowest monthly total since July 2007.

April foreclosure activity decreased 5 percent from  the previous month and was down 14 percent from April 2011. One in every 698  U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing during the month.

“Rising foreclosure activity in many state and  local markets in April was masked at the national level by sizable decreases in  hard-hit foreclosure states like California, Arizona and Nevada,” said Brandon  Moore, CEO of RealtyTrac. “Those three states, and several other non-judicial  foreclosure states like them, more efficiently processed foreclosures last  year, resulting in fewer catch-up foreclosures this year.

“In addition, more distressed loans are being  diverted into short sales rather than becoming completed foreclosures,” Moore  continued. “Our preliminary first quarter sales data shows that pre-foreclosure  sales — typically short sales — are on pace to outnumber sales of bank-owned  properties during the quarter in California, Arizona and 10 other states.”   

Non-judicial foreclosure activity down, judicial foreclosure activity up
Combined foreclosure activity in the 24 states with  a non-judicial foreclosure process and the District of Columbia decreased 7  percent from the previous month and was down 29 percent from April 2011. More  populous states like Arizona, California and Nevada drove the overall decreases  in non-judicial foreclosure activity, but 14 of the 24 states and the District  of Columbia posted month-over-month increases in foreclosure activity. Still, only  seven of the non-judicial foreclosure states posted annual increases, including  Georgia, Tennessee and Minnesota.

Combined foreclosure activity in the 26 states with  a judicial foreclosure process decreased 3 percent from the previous month but  was still up 15 percent from April 2011. Foreclosure activity decreased on a  month-over-month basis in 14 of the judicial foreclosure states but increased  on a year-over-year basis in 15 of the judicial foreclosure states.

Foreclosure starts down nationwide, but up in more than half of states
After three straight monthly increases, U.S.  foreclosure starts — default  notices or scheduled foreclosure  auctions, depending on the state — decreased 4 percent from March to April.  A total of 97,665 properties started the foreclosure process for the first time  during the month, down 2 percent from April 2011.

Despite the overall decrease in foreclosure starts,  26 states posted monthly increases in foreclosure starts, and 27 states posted  year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts. States with the biggest annual  increases in foreclosure starts included New Jersey (180 percent), Utah (179  percent), Indiana (49 percent), Pennsylvania (44 percent), Florida (43  percent), and Michigan (42 percent).

Bank repossessions decrease for third straight month
Bank repossessions (REOs) decreased on a monthly  basis for the third straight month in April, down 7 percent from March. Lenders  completed the foreclosure process on 51,415 U.S. properties during the month,  down 26 percent from April 2011 — the 18th consecutive month with a  year-over-year decrease in REOs.

REO activity decreased on an annual basis in 37  states and the District of Columbia, while 28 states posted monthly drops in  foreclosure activity. States with the biggest year-over-year decreases in REO  activity included Nevada (71 percent), Arizona (70 percent), Washington (67  percent), California (52 percent), Virginia (47 percent), and Maryland (47  percent).

11 of 20 largest metros post annual increases in  foreclosure activity
Eleven of the nation’s 20  largest metro areas based on population documented annual increases in  foreclosure activity, led by the Florida cities of Tampa (59 percent) and Miami  (38 percent). Other cities with increases included St. Louis (29 percent),  Chicago (26 percent), Philadelphia (24 percent), and Atlanta (21 percent).

Among the 20 largest  metros areas, cities posting the biggest annual drops in foreclosure activity  included Seattle (54 percent), Phoenix (44 percent), San Francisco (34  percent), Washington, D.C. (30 percent), Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., (30  percent), and Los Angeles (28 percent).

The metro areas with the  highest foreclosure rates among the 20 largest were Riverside-San Bernardino  (one in every 213 housing units with a foreclosure filing), Miami (one in every  273 housing units), Atlanta (one in every 298 housing units), Phoenix (one in  every 313 housing units), and Tampa (one in every 315 housing units).

The 11 cities with annual  increases in foreclosure activity were all in the Midwest, South or on the East  Coast, while six of the nine cities with annual decreases were in the western  states of California, Arizona and Washington.

Foreclosure Activity in 20 Largest U.S. Metros –  April 2012

Nevada, California, Florida post top state  foreclosure rates
A 15 percent  month-over-month increase in foreclosure starts helped Nevada post the nation’s  highest state foreclosure rate in April: one in every 300 housing units with a  foreclosure filing. Despite the monthly increase in foreclosure starts, overall Nevada  foreclosure activity decreased 67 percent from April 2011.

California  foreclosure activity decreased 30 percent from April 2011, but the state  still posted the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate: one in every 351  housing units with a foreclosure filing.

Florida foreclosure  activity increased 26 percent from April 2011, boosting the state’s  foreclosure rate to third highest in the nation. One in every 364 Florida  housing units had a foreclosure filing during the month.

The top 10 foreclosure  rates among metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 200,000 or more  were all in Nevada, California and Florida. Stockton, Calif., led the way, with  one in every 213 housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month. Seven  other California cities had foreclosure rates in the top 10, along with Las Vegas  at No. 7 and Miami at No. 9.

A 44 percent  year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity dropped Arizona’s  foreclosure rate — one in every 377 housing units with a foreclosure filing  — to fourth highest among the states, while a 21 percent year-over-year  increase in foreclosure activity helped Georgia maintain the nation’s fifth  highest state foreclosure rate — one in every 398 housing units with a  foreclosure filing.

Other states with  foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 were Illinois (one in 418 housing  units with a foreclosure filing), Utah (one in 419), Michigan (one in 487),  Ohio (one in 525), and Wisconsin (one in 547).

Report methodology
The RealtyTrac  U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties  with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the RealtyTrac  database during the month — broken out by type of filing. Some foreclosure  filings entered into the database during the month may have been recorded in  previous months. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide,  and those counties account for more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. 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’s 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). The report does not count a property again if it receives the same type  of foreclosure filing multiple times within the estimated foreclosure timeframe  for the state where the property is located.

Report License                                                                               
The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report is  the result of a proprietary evaluation of information compiled by RealtyTrac;  the report and any of the information in whole or in part can only be quoted,  copied, published, re-published, distributed and/or re-distributed or used in  any manner if the user specifically references RealtyTrac as the source for  said report and/or any of the information set forth within the report.

Order Customized  Reports
Detailed and historical foreclosure data used to create the above report  may be purchased  through the RealtyTrac  Data Licensing Department at 949.502.8300 Ext. 158. Aggregate data is available  at the state, metro, county and zip code levels dating back to 2005, and  address-level foreclosure records are also available historically.

About RealtyTrac Inc.                                                        
RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com) is the leading  online marketplace of foreclosure properties, with more than 1.5 million  default, auction and bank-owned listings from over 2,200 U.S. counties, along  with detailed property, loan and home sales data. Hosting millions of unique  monthly visitors, RealtyTrac provides innovative technology solutions and  practical education resources to facilitate buying, selling and investing in  real estate. RealtyTrac’s foreclosure data has also been used by the Federal  Reserve, FBI, U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and Banking Committee, U.S.  Treasury Department, and numerous state housing and banking departments,  private companies and academic institutions to help evaluate foreclosure trends  and address policy issues related to foreclosures.

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