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Utah among highest in foreclosure rates

October 27th, 2010 @ 4:23pm

By Jason Lee

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah and its largest metropolitan areas are again among the nation's highest foreclosure rates, according to a new report.

RealtyTrac -- an Irvine, Calif.-based market research firm -- released its Q3 2010 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, which ranked Provo-Orem at No. 30, Salt Lake City at No. 31 and Ogden-Clearfield at No. 58 all in the top foreclosure rates for the third quarter among metropolitan areas with a population of at least 200,000 people.

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Both Provo-Orem and Salt Lake City recorded one foreclosure filing for every 77 housing units, while Ogden-Clearfield had one filing for every 126 households, the report stated.

Data obtained by the Deseret News from RealtyTrac also showed that southern Utah's largest metro area, St. George, recorded one filing for every 52 housing units. Because of its smaller population, St. George was not included in the report.
Foreclosure-related filings include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.
The national average was one foreclosure filing for every 139 housing units, according to the report.
Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., continued to post the nation's highest metro foreclosure rate in the third quarter, with one in every 25 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing -- more than five times the national average. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., documented the nation's second highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 35 housing units receiving a filing during the period.
With one in every 36 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the third quarter, Modesto, Calif., posted the third-highest metro foreclosure rate despite an 18 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the third quarter of 2009, the release stated.
The report showed that cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona accounted for all top 10 foreclosure rates in the third quarter. California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona cities also accounted for 19 of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates. The only exception was Boise City-Nampa, Idaho. At No. 14, it was also one of only five metro areas ranking in the top 20 to post a year-over-year increase in foreclosure activity.
"The underlying problems that are causing homeowners to miss their mortgage payments -- high unemployment, underemployment, toxic loans and negative equity-- are continuing to plague most local housing markets," said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "And these historically high foreclosure rates will continue until those problems are resolved."