Nevada holds on to nation’s highest foreclosure rate

By Tim Richardson

Friday, Sept. 12, 2008 | 8:10 a.m.

Nevada's unenviable streak of having the nation's highest foreclosure rate has extended to its 20th month.

Irvine, Calif.,-based RealtyTrac reported this morning that one in every 91 households received a foreclosure filing last month in Nevada. That's up from one in every 106 households in July, and it’s an 89 percent increase over August 2007.

California’s foreclosure rate was next in line (one in 130 properties), followed by Arizona (one in 182 properties). RealtyTrac, which monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, said 11,706 properties in Nevada fell into foreclosure last month.

Las Vegas came in seventh on the list of metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, with one in every 75 homes receiving a foreclosure filing last month. Foreclosure activity was up 14 percent from July and 83 percent from August 2007, according to RealtyTrac.

Only two of the 10 cities with the highest foreclosure rates weren’t in California: Las Vegas and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., which came in just before Las Vegas at No. 6. Rounding out the Top 10, in order, were the following California cities: Stockton had the nation’s highest rate (one in every 50 households), followed by Merced, Modesto, Vallejo-Fairfield, Riverside-San Bernardino, Bakersfield, Salinas-Monterey and Sacramento.

After Nevada, California and Arizona, the rest of the Top 10 states, in order, were Florida, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, Illinois and Indiana. Michigan, Georgia, Ohio and Colorado all reported annual decreases in foreclosure activity.

Nationwide, foreclosure filings in August increased 27 percent compared to the same month a year ago, which was a slower pace than in previous months. June and July each had year-over year increases of 50 percent or more.

RealtyTrac reported that 303,800 homes nationwide received at least one foreclosure-related notice in August, up 12 percent from July. One in every 416 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month.