Colorado’s foreclosure rate for 2008 was fifth highest in the nation, but grew at a slower pace than the rest of the nation, according to an annual report released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc.
The state saw 66,795 foreclosure filings on 50,396 properties in 2008, for a rate of 2.41 percent of Colorado homes, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based private marketer of foreclosure properties.
The state’s 2008 foreclosure rate was 27.90 percent higher than 2007 and 61.41 percent about 2006, the company said in its annual “U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.”
Nationwide, the 2008 foreclosure rate was 1.84 percent, RealtyTrac said. A total of 3,157,806 filings on 2,330,483 properties were tallied.
“Clearly the foreclosure prevention programs implemented to date have not had any real success in slowing down this foreclosure tsunami,” James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, said in a statement.
If there was any good news in the local numbers, it was that Colorado’s foreclosure-rate growth was outpaced by that of the nation as a whole, which saw a 81.24 percent increase over 2007 and a 224.80 percent jump over 2006.
In RealtyTrac’s parallel series of monthly foreclosure reports, Colorado was ranked highest in the nation for several months in 2006, but has slipped below several other states in more recent rankings. It was No. 10 in the September 2008 monthly report.
RealtyTrac’s reports are controversial in some quarters.
In the past, state officials have disputed Colorado’s high position in RealtyTrac’s rankings, saying that because the state’s public trustees report foreclosures at multiple stages of the process, RealtyTrac may overcount Colorado foreclosures. RealtyTrac officials have denied this, saying they have taken steps to ensure accurate counts.
A report issued Dec. 4 by the Colorado Division of Housing, based on information from Colorado’s county public trustees, said that foreclosure filings through the first nine months of 2008 were down 14 percent from the previous year, and completed foreclosure sales were down 9 percent. The state appeared to be on track to have fewer foreclosures in 2008 than it did in 2007, officials said.
Among U.S. metropolitan areas, the Denver-Aurora area’s 2008 foreclosure rate ranked No. 19 in the RealtyTrac report, at 3.20 percent of all housing units. The company tallied 32,920 foreclosure filings in the area in 2008, up 23.61 percent from the previous year.
Nevada’s 2008 foreclosure rate of 7.29 percent led the states in the RealtyTrac’s report. The report said one in 14 Nevada housing units received at least one foreclosure notice in 2008.
Nevada was followed by Florida (4.52 percent foreclosure rate), Arizona (4.49 percent), California (3.97 percent) and Colorado.
Vermont had the nation’s lowest foreclosure rate, 0.04 percent, RealtyTrac said. Only 124 filings were counted in Vermont.
The report said that among metro areas, Stockton, Calif., led the nation with a 9.46 percent foreclosure rate.
sources:http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2009/01/12/daily48.html