Texas Real Estate News

RealtyTrac: Texas Foreclosures Down in Q1

Texas had the 29th-highest foreclosure rate in the nation in the first quarter of 2009, according to data from RealtyTrac Inc.

A total of 25,259 Texas properties were at some stage in the foreclosure process in the first quarter, or one out of every 369 households, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based marketer of foreclosure properties. That was down 25 percent from the first quarter of 2008. Still, it’s an increase of 14 percent from fourth quarter 2008.

Nationwide, foreclosure filings rose 9 percent from the previous quarter and nearly 24 percent year-over-year, to 803,489, or one in every 159 U.S. households.

“In the month of March we saw a record level of foreclosure activity — the number of households that received a foreclosure filing was more than 12 percent higher than the next highest month on record,” RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said. “Since much of this activity was in new foreclosure actions, it suggests that many lenders and servicers were holding off on executing foreclosures due to industry moratoria and legislative delays.”

Nevada had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, followed in descending order by Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Idaho, Utah and Oregon.

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