Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A record number of households in the U.S. faced the threat of foreclosure last year — and Utah was among the states hardest hit.
The Beehive State ranked fifth nationwide with rate of one in every 29 households recording a foreclosure filing, according to the RealtyTrac's Year-End 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. While the state's ranking equaled its position of 2009, the number of filings jumped nearly 20 percent from the previous year — a distinction that made Utah unique.
"(Utah) was the only state among the top five to post an increase in foreclosure rates from 2009," said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac marketing and communications manager. "The problem is pretty severe in Utah."
(Utah) was the only state among the top five to post an increase in foreclosure rates from 2009. The problem is pretty severe in Utah.
–Daren Blomquist
Only Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California had higher foreclosure rates. Nevada had one foreclosure filing for every 11 households, followed by Arizona at one in 17 households, with Florida at one in 18 households and California with one in every 25 households recording a filing.
Blomquist said while other states experienced extremely high foreclosure rates over the past couple of years, Utah lagged behind. However, Utah is now hitting some very challenging times — and the pain may last a while, he said.
"For the top four states, the peak (of foreclosures) was in 2009," he said. "For Utah, we haven't hit the peak yet. The peak is probably going to be in 2011."
Blomquist said Utah should "turn the corner" sometime next year and see its foreclosure rate begin to decline in 2012.
Nationally, there were a total of 3.8 million foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — reported on a record 2.87 million U.S. properties in 2010, an increase of nearly 2 percent from 2009.
More than 9 percent of Nevada housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in 2010, giving it the nation's highest state foreclosure rate for the fourth consecutive year despite a 5 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from 2009.
Arizona registered the nation's second highest state foreclosure rate for the second year in a row, with 5.73 percent of its housing units receiving at least one foreclosure filing last year, while Florida registered the nation's third highest foreclosure rate, with 5.51 percent of its housing units receiving at least one foreclosure filing during the year.
Other states with 2010 foreclosure rates ranking among the nation's 10 highest were California at 4.08 percent, Utah at 3.44 percent, Georgia at 3.25 percent, Michigan at 3.00 percent, Idaho at 2.98 percent, Illinois at 2.87 percent and Colorado at 2.51 percent.
The report showed that five states accounted for 51 percent of the nation's total foreclosure activity in 2010: California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan. Together, the quintet documented nearly 1.5 million properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the year despite annual decreases in the three states with the most foreclosure activity.
E-mail: jlee@desnews.com
