Area home foreclosure rate worsens in spring quarter

7/25/2008

Although the tide of foreclosures in metropolitan Toledo ebbed at the beginning of the year, it picked up in the spring.

From April through June, the area is ranked 21st among the nation's 100 largest metro areas, according to RealtyTrac Inc., of Irvine, Calif., an online tracking agency.

Toledo was 37th after the first quarter of 2008, but its current rank shows the economy has worsened again, as have owners' difficulties in making mortgage payments. The metro area ranked 19th at the end of last year, RealtyTrac found.

Al Green, owner of AA Realty in Bowling Green and president of the Toledo Board of Realtors, said the increase is a blip on the local housing radar rather than a significant trend.

"Everybody's concerned, but I don't think we can be surprised at the numbers that are coming out each month. Numbers change," Mr. Green said. "We're nearing the bottom of the trough."

The area recorded 3,253 filings of default and auction notices and of bank repossessions, or one for every 92 households for the quarter, the survey firm found. The number is up 73 percent from the prior quarter and 121 percent from the period a year earlier.

Ohio ranked sixth worst among the states nationwide, and Michigan was No. 7, RealtyTrac figures show.

Ohio had 37,689 filings for the quarter, or one for every 134 households. Michigan had 32,868 filings, or one for every 137 households.

The activity in Ohio was up almost 21 percent from the first quarter and 27 percent from a year earlier.

In Michigan, the filings jumped 11 percent from the prior three months and 73 percent from the second quarter of last year.

Nationally, there were 739,714 foreclosure-related filings, or one in every 171 households, in the second quarter. They increased almost 14 percent from the prior quarter and 121 percent from a year earlier. Nevada remained at the top of the list of states, recording 24,657 filings, or one in every 43 households.

Among the big cities, Stockton, Calif., was tops, with 9,066 filings or one for every 25 households.

In Ohio, Cleveland ranked 26th, with 8,735 filings, or one for every 108 households; Dayton was 29th, with 3,304 filings, or one for every 115 households; and Cincinnati was 41st, with 5,601 filings, one for every 161 households.

Contact Laura Bennett at:

lbennett@theblade.com

or 419-724-6728.