Nevada has second-highest foreclosure rate for fourth consecutive month

Nevada posted the nation’s second-highest foreclosure rate for the fourth consecutive month with one in every 344 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in January, RealtyTrac was expected to report today.

Overall, foreclosure activity in Nevada decreased 43 percent from a year ago, but foreclosure starts increased 19 percent from the previous month and were up 87 percent from January 2012 to a 16-month high, said Daren Blomquist, vice president of the online foreclosure listing service.

RealtyTrac showed Nevada with 1,807 notices of default in January, 792 notices of trustee sale and 759 real estate-owned sales, for a total of 3,378 foreclosure filings.

Blomquist said the spike in January could be a short-term catchup by lenders, but he expects the trend to continue over the next couple of months.

“It actually took longer that we anticipated before we saw the increase,” he said. “It’s like the NFL. Everything has to be reviewed, so the game is dragging on. That’s what we’re seeing with foreclosures.”

Nationwide, there were 150,864 foreclosure filings in January, a decrease of 7 percent from the previous month and down 28 percent from January 2012. The report shows one in every 869 U.S. housing units with a foreclosure filing during the month.

Some of the largest year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts came in nonjudicial foreclosure states where legislation or court rulings stalled foreclosure actions last year. Arkansas experienced a 539 percent increase, Washington 179 percent and Nevada 87 percent.

Florida cities dominated the list of those with the highest foreclosure rates and Florida ranked No. 1 in foreclosures. Las Vegas was No. 6 among cities with one of every 283 housing units in some stage of foreclosure.

Even if Nevada legislators amend the state’s robo-signing law, the market won’t be overwhelmed by foreclosures the way it was with the first wave, Blomquist said. There’s enough pent-up demand to take those properties off the market, he said.

“We were seeing numbers decreasing for eight straight months even before the legislation,” he said.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.