2010 Foreclosure Activity Presents Mixed Picture

Foreclosure activity increased last year in 149 of the nation's 206 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more -- suggesting the foreclosure problem has yet to peak.

But the year-end report from RealtyTrac, a foreclosure marketing firm, also showed the metro areas with the 10 highest  foreclosure rates all posted decreasing foreclosure activity since2009. Six  of the top 10 also posted decreasing foreclosure activity from 2008. Analysts say that suggests stability may be returning to the hardest-hit markets.

"Foreclosure floodwaters receded somewhat in 2010 in the nation's hardest-hit housing markets," said James J. Saccacio, chief  executive officer of RealtyTrac. "Even so, foreclosure levels remained five to 10 times higher than historic norms in most of those hard-hit markets, where deep faultlines of risk remain and could potentially trigger more waves of  foreclosure activity in 2011 and beyond.

Meanwhile foreclosures became more  widespread in 2010 as high unemployment drove activity up in 72 percent of the  nation's metro areas, many of which were relatively insulated from the initial  foreclosure tsunami."

The usual suspects

California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona cities accounted for 19 of the top 20  metro foreclosure rates, with Boise City-Nampa, Idaho the lone exception at No.  20. Boise also was one of only three metros in the top 20 where foreclosure  activity increased from 2009, along with the Florida metro areas of Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach at No. 13 and Tampa-St.  Petersburg-Clearwater at No. 17.

Top 10 metro foreclosure rates

Las Vegas-Paradise continued to post the nation's highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in  every 9 housing units (10.88 percent) receiving a foreclosure filing in 2010 -- nearly five times the national average. A total of 88,198 Las Vegas-area  properties received a foreclosure filing in 2010, a decrease of 7 percent from  2009 but still up 31 percent from 2008.

Despite decreasing foreclosure activity from both  2009 and 2008, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., documented the nation's second highest metro  foreclosure rate -- with one in every 12 housing units (8.40 percent) receiving a  foreclosure filing in 2010. A total of 30,660 properties in the metro area  received a foreclosure filing in 2010, down 28 percent from 2009 and down 25  percent from 2008.

Modesto, Calif., also reported a decrease in  foreclosure activity from 2009 and 2008, but the metro area still posted the  nation's third highest metro foreclosure rate with one in every 14 housing  units (7.34 percent) receiving a foreclosure filing in 2010.

Along with Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Modesto, four other metro areas with foreclosure rates in the top 10 also reported two-year  decreases in foreclosure activity: No. 6 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario,  Calif., where foreclosure activity was down nearly 20 percent from 2009 and  nearly 10 percent from 2008; No. 7 Stockton, Calif., where foreclosure activity  was down nearly 19 percent from 2009 and nearly 25 percent from 2008; No. 8  Merced, Calif., where foreclosure activity was down nearly 31 percent from 2009  and 30 percent from 2008; and No. 10 Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif., where foreclosure  activity was down 12 percent from 2009 and 3 percent from 2008.

Other metro areas with foreclosure rates in the top 10 were Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale at No. 4 (7.27 percent); Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach at No. 5 (7.08  percent); and Orlando-Kissimmee at No. 9 (6.86 percent).

Foreclosure activity trends were evenly split in  the nation's 20 largest metro areas, with 10 of those metro areas showing  decreasing foreclosure activity from 2009, and 10 showing increasing  foreclosure activity from 2009.