Pa.’s October foreclosure-filing rate down, N.J.’s increases

Pennsylvania's foreclosure-filing rate fell 4.39 percent in October from September, but the statewide monthly total was 26 percent higher than the same month in 2007, data released today showed.

Nationally, foreclosure filings totaled 279,561, 5 percent higher than September and 25 percent above October 2007, or a ratio of  1 in 452 homes, according to RealtyTrac, the Irvine, Calif., company that tracks that data.

Pennsylvania's monthly ratio of filings to homes - 1 in 1,362 - stayed well below the nation's.

Led by higher numbers in the counties in the northern part of the state, however, New Jersey filings were up almost 11 percent month to month and 75 percent higher than October 2007.

The ratio of 1 filing for every 410 homes was worse than the national average, and kept New Jersey on the top 10 list of states for a second consecutive month.

By contrast, however, the ratio for No. 1 Nevada was 1 in 74; 1 in 149 for No. 2 Arizona; for No. 3 Florida, it was 1 in 157, and 1 in 231 for No. 4 California.

Nevada has held that spot for 22 consecutive months.

Breaking out the numbers for the eight-county Philadelphia metro area, foreclosure filings averaged 1 for every 1,213 houses in October. There were no data available for monthly or annual comparisons for the region.

Because of its low filing ratio, the Philadelphia region did not appear on RealtyTrac's list of top 50 metro areas. For the third quarter, released last month, the region was 68 of 100 metro areas, however.

Two areas in North Jersey did make the monthly rankings, however: Bergen/Passaic Counties, with 1 in 207, and Newark, with 1 in 319.

The city of Philadelphia bucked the national trends, falling 7 percent from September and 1 percent year over year. RealtyTrac chief economist Rick Sharga said these numbers "may understate the severity of the problem, however, as the foreclosure activity in Philadelphia County, which accounts for a high percentage of the region's foreclosures, has seen a marked drop-off in activity since local legislation has delayed the process of foreclosing on delinquent loans."

Las Vegas had the highest metropolitan foreclosure rate among the 230 metro areas tracked, with 1 in every 62 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in October - more than seven times the national average.

Filings were reported on 12,155 Las Vegas area properties - up nearly 104 percent from October 2007.

The top 10 metro areas included Las Vegas; four in Florida, four in California and Phoenix, Ariz.

The RealtyTrac data support other recent indicators that the Philadelphia region hasn't yet experienced the worst of the downturn.

The real estate search engine Zillow.com said that 4.4 percent of homes purchased in this region in the last five years were "under water," or worth less than the mortgage balance owed and a precursor to the foreclosure process, compared with more 14.3 percent nationally in the third quarter.

Another data-collector, First American CoreLogic, said just 5.7 percent of homes in Pennsylvania fell into the "under water" category in the quarter, and 9.3 percent in New Jersey - compared with its estimate of 18 percent nationally.

Still, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com in West Chester, sees little reason to celebrate.

"With quickly rising unemployment, foreclosures will continue to rise strongly everywhere through the end of the decade, including Philadelphia," he said.