Foreclosure filings in the United States were up 57-percent in the month of January when compared to the same period a year earlier, according to new data from RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace.
In RealtyTrac’s latest “January 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report,” the data provider recorded foreclosure filings on 233,301 properties nationwide, which is an eight-percent increase over the previous month. Foreclosure filings in RealtyTrac’s latest report include all default notices, notices of auction sales and bank reposessions.
Among the individual states, Nevada recorded the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, despite experiencing a 45-percent decrease in filings in January when compared to December of 2007. In all, the Western state documented foreclosure filings on 6,087 properties last month, which is still 95-percent higher than the number of filings recorded for the same period last year.

California and Florida ranked second and third, respectively, for having the highest state foreclosure rates.
California also achieved the dubious honor of recording the highest total number of foreclosure filings in the nation after documenting activity on 57,158 properties in January. Florida followed closely behind, ranking second in state totals, after recording filings on 30,178 properties—a 158-percent increase when compared to January of 2007. Meanwhile, the Lone Star state, or Texas, ranked third in total foreclosure filings with activity reported on 14,698 properties—a 20-percent increase from the previous month.
“January’s foreclosure numbers demonstrate that foreclosure activity is continuing its upward trend, substantially increasing from a year ago in many states,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “However, the 8-percent monthly increase in January is not as precipitous as the 19-percent spike we saw in January of 2007, and several key states actually experienced decreasing foreclosure activity from the previous month. It could be that some of the efforts on the part of lenders and the government—both at the state and federal level—are beginning to take effect. The big question is whether those efforts are truly helping homeowners avoid foreclosure in the long term or if they are just temporarily forestalling the inevitable for many beleagured borrowers.”
Click here to read more and to view state-by-state data.