By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida
The number of Florida foreclosures fell in April from a year earlier, mirroring a national trend that indicates a slowing of defaults on mortgages, according to data released Thursday by RealtyTrac.
Florida’s foreclosure fell 18 percent from March and was down 25 percent from April 2009. Despite the improvement, the state still posted the second highest number of foreclosures in the nation, with 48,384 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.
One in every 182 Florida properties received some type of foreclosure filing, the third highest rate in the country behind Nevada and Arizona. In Nevada, still the poster child of the housing bust, one in every 69 homes was in foreclosure.
Nationally, foreclosure filings fell 2 percent from April 2009, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based company that collects data from more than 2,200 counties nationwide.
The number of foreclosure notices issued fell nationally for the first time since the company began tracking foreclosures in 2005. April also marked an all-time high for bank repossessions, the company reported.
“We expect a similar pattern to continue for most of this year, with the overall numbers staying at a high level and ripples of activity hitting the various stages of the foreclosure process as lenders systematically work through the backlog of distressed properties.” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement.
The Fort Myers area posted the nation’s fourth highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 105 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing as the region continues to dig out from under the housing collapse that followed an extraordinary boom in southwest Florida.
Orlando, meanwhile, dropped out of the top 10 to No. 11 in the monthly poll.
Easing credit and an uptick in economic activity are seen as possible drivers to the lower figures. Federal programs have also helped. A federal program aimed at keeping people in their homes has so far spent $75 billion and assisted 231,000 homeowners with permanent reductions to their monthly mortgage bills.
