03/19/2012

Foreclosure

IRVINE, Calif. – Jan. 13, 2011 – RealtyTrac,
the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its
Year-End 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows a total of 3,825,637
foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions — were reported on a record
2,871,891 U.S. properties in 2010, an increase of nearly 2 percent from 2009
and an increase of 23 percent from 2008. The report also shows that 2.23
percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 45) received at least one foreclosure
filing during the year, up from 2.21 percent in 2009, 1.84 percent in 2008,
1.03 percent in 2007 and 0.58 percent in 2006.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 257,747 U.S.
properties in December, a decrease of nearly 2 percent from the previous month
and down 26 percent from December 2009 — the biggest annual drop in foreclosure
activity since RealtyTrac began publishing its foreclosure report in January
2005 and giving December the lowest monthly total since June 2008.

December Default notices (NOD, LIS) decreased 4 percent from
the previous month and were down 35 percent from December 2009; Scheduled foreclosure auctions (NTS, NFS) decreased
3 percent from the previous month and were down 20 percent from December 2009;
and bank repossessions (REO) increased nearly 4 percent from the previous month
— thanks in part to substantial month-over-month increases in some states such
as Nevada (71 percent increase), Arizona (52 percent increase) and California
(47 percent increase) — but we’re still down 24 percent from December
2009.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 799,064 U.S.
properties in the fourth quarter, a 14 percent decrease from the previous
quarter and an 8 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2009. The fourth-quarter total was the lowest quarterly total since Q4 2008.

“Total properties receiving foreclosure filings would
have easily exceeded 3 million in 2010 had it not been for the fourth quarter
drop in foreclosure activity — triggered primarily by the continuing
the controversy surrounding foreclosure documentation and procedures that prompted
many major lenders to temporarily halt some foreclosure proceedings” said
James J. Saccacio, the chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Even so, 2010
foreclosure activity still hit a record high for our report and many of the
foreclosure proceedings that were stopped in late 2010 — which we estimate may
be as high as a quarter-million — will likely be re-started and add to the
numbers in early 2011.”

Nevada, Arizona, Florida post top state
foreclosure rates
More than 9 percent of Nevada housing units (one in 11) received at least
one foreclosure filing in 2010, giving it the nation’s highest state
the foreclosure rate for the fourth consecutive year despite a 5 percent decrease
in foreclosure activity from 2009. Nevada foreclosure activity in December
increased 18 percent from the previous month and was up 14 percent from
December 2009. Fourth-quarter foreclosure activity in Nevada decreased by nearly 7
percent from the previous quarter but increased 19 percent from the fourth
quarter of 2009.

Arizona registered the nation’s second-highest state
foreclosure rate for the second year in a row, with 5.73 percent of its housing
units (one in 17) receiving at least one foreclosure filing in 2010, and Florida registered the nation’s third-highest
foreclosure rate, with 5.51 percent of its housing units (one in 18) receiving
at least one foreclosure filing during the year.

Other states with 2010 foreclosure rates ranking
among the nation’s 10 highest were California (4.08 percent), Utah (3.44
percent), Georgia (3.25 percent), Michigan (3.00 percent), Idaho (2.98
percent), Illinois (2.87 percent), and Colorado (2.51 percent).

California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and
Michigan accounts for half of the national total
Five states accounted
for 51 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure activity in 2010: California,
Florida, Arizona, Illinois, and Michigan. Together these five states documented
nearly 1.5 million properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the year
despite annual decreases in the three states with the most foreclosure
activity.

A total of 546,669 California properties received a foreclosure filing
in 2010, a decrease of nearly 14 percent from 2009 but still the largest state
total. After hitting a two-year low in November, California foreclosure
activity rebounded nearly 15 percent higher in December but was still down 18
percent from December 2009.

Florida posted the nation’s second-biggest total in
2010, with 485,286 properties receiving a foreclosure filing — a 6 percent
decrease from 2009. Florida foreclosure activity in December hit the lowest
monthly level since July 2007, down 22 percent from the previous month and down
nearly 54 percent from December 2009.

A total of 155,878 Arizona properties received a
foreclosure filing in 2010, a 4 percent decrease from 2009 but the third
biggest state total for the third straight year. Arizona foreclosure activity
in December jumped nearly 31 percent higher from a 32-month low in November,
but was still down nearly 33 percent from December 2009.
Illinois posted the fourth-biggest state total, with
151,304 properties receiving a foreclosure filing in 2010, and Michigan posted the fifth-biggest state total, with
135,874 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the year. Foreclosure
activity in both states increased by about 15 percent from 2009.

Other states with 2010 totals among the 10 biggest
in the country were Georgia (130,966), Texas (118,923), Ohio (108,160), Nevada
(106,160), and New Jersey (64,808).

Report methodology
The RealtyTrac Year-End 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 year. Some foreclosure filings entered into
the database during the year may have been recorded in the previous year. 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 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). For the annual and quarterly reports, if more than one
foreclosure document is received for a property during the year or quarter,
only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The annual, quarterly and
monthly reports all check if the same type of document was filed against a
property previously. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the
estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state where the property is located,
the report does not count the property in the current year, quarter or
month.
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, republished,
distributed and/or re-distributed or used in any manner if the user
specifically references RealtyTrac as the source for the said report and/or any of
the information set forth within the report.
About RealtyTrac Inc.
RealtyTrac
(http://www.realtytrac.com/) is the leading online
the marketplace of foreclosure properties, with more than 2 million default,
auction and bank-owned listings from over 2,200 U.S. counties, along with
the detailed property, loan, and home sales data. Hosting more than 3 million 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 to help
evaluate foreclosure trends and address policy issues related to
foreclosures.