According to foreclosure data provider RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings in the District of Columbia dropped 13.24 percent in August. They were also down 30 percent year over year, which is great.
Nationwide, the foreclosure rate was down just under 1 percent from July to August. Since July was the high for the year, this is good but not great. What is notable from the RealtyTrac CEO is that the number of REOs went down 13 percent, so that means that banks are taking posession of less properties. However, a record high number of properties were either in default or scheduled for public auction, which makes sense since employment is still so high. Whether those defaults eventually turn into abandoned homes in foreclosure, obviously too early to tell.
Virginia foreclosure filings were also down 6.74 percent from July to August. Maryland foreclosure filings were up 6.58 percent, and up 70 percent year over year.
The rate of foreclosure in Maryland is currently 1 in 422 homes. While this is nowhere near as bad as places like Nevada, where 1 in 62 homes are in foreclosure, it's the 12 highest rate in the country. Virginia is 19, but at least seems to be trending in the right direction.
One of the states I found particularly odd to see in the top 10 foreclosure rates was Idaho. Granted, Idaho is not the most densely populated state, so a few foreclosures could dramatically swing the numbers, but Idaho, Utah and Colorado are among the states with the highest foreclosure rates in the country, right up there with Michigan, Nevada and Florida.
Georgia is another state that seems some what suprising, but they have had record numbers of bank closures this year, so that certainly makes some sense.
To what extent the situation at Countrywide and Washington Mutual, two of the biggest lenders that were primarily focused on Western states, has had on the foreclosure situation in states like Idaho and Utah, is unclear but probable.
Utah at least was one of the strongest housing markets in the country until the middle of last year, but I have heard anecdotally that smaller cities like St. George have had some foreclosures and, again, it's a fairly sparesely populated state.
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