Foreclosure filings on the rise in Michigan, drop in Ohio

5/13/2010

Foreclosure filings continue to rise in Michigan, but have decreased in Ohio and nationwide, a study released today shows.

Filings nationwide - which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions - totaled 333,837 in April, down 9 percent from March and 2 percent from April, 2009, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a California real-estate data tracking firm. The figures indicate April was the first month RealtyTrac's reports show an annual drop in U.S. foreclosure activity.

James Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac, said in a statement the foreclosure activity had hit "a plateau - but at a very high level that will not drop off in the near future."

However, the report found Michigan's filings increased. The 19,173 filings for April, or one for every 237 households, were up 8 percent from March and 77 percent from April, 2009. It ranked seventh-highest nationally.

Ohio's filings had ranked it among the top 10 states for most of last year, but April figures show 11,936 filings, or one for every 426 households, placing it 12th among states, according to RealtyTrac. Ohio's filings were down 7 percent from March and 3 percent from April, 2009.

Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rates for the 40th-straight month, with one filing for every 69 households. Arizona was next, then California. Nationally, there was a filing for every 387 households, the report said.

The report found that bank repossessions nationwide were at a record high for the month even as default notices dropped substantially. Repossessions totaled 92,432, up 1 percent from the previous month and 45 percent from a year earlier. Default notices, though, totaled 103762, down 12 percent from the previous month and 27 percent from a year earlier.