foreclosure071008

Foreclosure notices down, but way up from June '07

Last update: July 10, 2008 - 9:25 AM

Despite sluggish home sales and rising adjustable mortgage rates, the number of homeowners receiving foreclosure notices nationwide fell a bit last month, although the number was much higher than a year earlier, according to a report being released today by foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac.

The report, which includes foreclosure filing notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, said that nationwide foreclosure filings were up 53 percent in June compared with the same period last year, while filings fell 3 percent from May.

Minnesota showed a more extreme year-to-year increase, but overall, the state still was in better shape than others. The number of June filings in Minnesota was 75 percent higher than in June 2007, but 23 percent lower than in May 2008.

Still, one in every 1,348 Minnesota households received a foreclosure notice in June -- considerably better than the nation as a whole, where one in every 501 households entered foreclosure.

Minnesota dropped from the 25th-worst state in the nation during May to 29th last month. The states that had the biggest increases in home sales and price appreciation during the boom are now suffering the worst: Nevada, California and Arizona top the foreclosure-rate list.

JIM BUCHTA