Wednesday, March 9, 2011 | 9:53 p.m.
Nevada led the nation in foreclosures in February for the 50th consecutive month, but the problem lessened as lenders slowed down their foreclosure process.
February’s foreclosure filings fell 22 percent compared to January and fell 13 percent from February 2010, according to a report released by California-based RealtyTrac.
Nevada had one filing for every 119 housing units, which topped the one filing for 178 homes in Arizona.
The reduction in filings mirrors what happened throughout the nation in February, with filings down 14 percent from January and 27 percent from February 2010.
The nationwide decline is the biggest year-over-year decrease since RealtyTrac started tracking foreclosures in 2005.
The firm attributes the drop to allegations of improper foreclosure processing that has dogged the mortgage servicing industry.
“The industry is in a midst of a major overhaul that has severely restricted its capacity to process foreclosures,” said RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James Saccacio. “We expect the numbers to bounce back, but that will likely take several months.”
Las Vegas led the nation in foreclosure filings in February with one filing for every 134 housing units. Seven California cities were in the top 10. Phoenix was fourth and Reno tenth.
A report issued by California-based CoreLogic revealed that 69.1 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage in Las Vegas were underwater during the fourth quarter. That means the borrower owed more on the mortgage than the property was worth. Another 4.4 percent were close to being underwater, the firm said.
Nevada had the highest percentage of homes underwater at 65 percent. Arizona was next with 51 percent.
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