Foreclosures Decrease 9 Percent in December According to RealtyTrac(TM) U.S. Foreclosure Market Report

IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- RealtyTrac(R) (http://www.realtytrac.com/), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its December 2006 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows that 109,652 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure during the month, a decrease of nearly 9 percent from the previous month but an increase of 35 percent from December 2005. The report also shows a national foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 1,055 U.S. households.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties, with over 700,000 properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal's Real Estate Journal.

"New foreclosure filings surpassed the 100,000 level for the fifth straight month, something we've not seen since we began issuing our foreclosure market report in January 2005," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "While the number of new foreclosure filings dropped back from the high point of 2006 in November, the combination of slower home sales and rising interest rates on adjustable mortgages continues to drive foreclosures at significantly higher numbers than a year ago."

Colorado reclaims top foreclosure rate

Colorado posted the nation's highest state foreclosure rate in December -- one new foreclosure filing for every 376 households -- despite a nearly 4 percent dip in foreclosure activity from the previous month. The state registered the highest monthly rate for the ninth time in 2006, reclaiming the top spot back from Nevada. Nevada's foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 392 households dropped to second highest in the nation thanks to a nearly 12 percent decrease in foreclosure activity

Georgia also reported a decrease in foreclosure activity, but the state's foreclosure rate -- one new foreclosure filing for every 480 households -- ranked third highest in the nation for the third month in a row.

Texas documents most new foreclosure filings

Texas recorded the most new foreclosure filings of any state in December, taking the top spot from California. The state reported 14,195 properties entering some stage of foreclosure during the month, an increase of nearly 4 percent from the previous month and a foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 567 households -- 1.9 times the national average. December was the eighth month that Texas has reported the most new foreclosure filings in 2006.

After claiming the top spot for the three previous months, California's monthly foreclosure total fell to second place thanks to a sharp month-over-month drop in foreclosure activity. The state reported 12,623 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, a 34 percent decrease from the previous month but still up nearly 65 percent from December 2005.

Florida documented 8,321 properties entering some stage of foreclosure in December, the third most of any state but 11 percent below the number reported in the previous month. Florida's foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 878 households dropped out of the nation's 10 highest state foreclosure rates but remained above the national average.

Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Colorado, Massachusetts and New York also reported state foreclosure totals among the nation's 10 highest.

Top three metro foreclosure rates in Colorado, Texas and Michigan

For the fifth month in a row, Greeley, Colo., posted the highest foreclosure rate among the nation's 200-plus largest metropolitan areas. The Greeley metro area (Weld County) documented 391 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, a decrease of nearly 9 percent from the previous month and a foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 169 households -- more than six times the national average.

Fort Worth, Texas, documented the nation's second highest metro foreclosure rate in November, with one new foreclosure filing for every 242 households -- more than four times the national average. The metro area reported 2,862 properties entering some stage of foreclosure during the month, up nearly 48 percent from the previous month.

Foreclosure activity decreased less than 1 percent in the Detroit metropolitan area (Wayne County), and the city's foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 250 households ranked as the third highest metropolitan foreclosure rate in the nation.

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides the total number of homes entering some stage of foreclosure nationwide and by state over the preceding month. Data is also available at the individual county level. RealtyTrac's report includes properties in all three phases of foreclosure: Defaults -- Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auctions -- Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank).

U.S. Foreclosure Market Statistics by State - Dec 2006 Rate Rank State Name NODs NTSs NFSs LISs REOs Total -- U.S. 26,593 41,292 5,472 15,887 20,408 109,652 29 Alabama 2 418 0 0 232 652 24 Alaska 0 72 0 0 7 79 12 Arizona 0 6 2,352 13 154 2,525 19 Arkansas 10 684 0 0 73 767 14 California 9,638 2,348 0 1 636 12,623 1 Colorado 57 3,955 0 0 852 4,864 17 Connecticut 952 122 0 0 0 1,074 44 Delaware 4 6 0 0 22 32 DC 1 3 0 0 0 4 13 Florida 0 16 1,224 6,826 255 8,321 3 Georgia 14 4,698 0 0 1,743 6,455 43 Hawaii 4 37 0 0 2 43 37 Idaho 33 43 0 0 4 80 8 Illinois 0 111 748 5,641 403 6,903 9 Indiana 1,157 1,565 0 0 714 3,436 25 Iowa 31 208 0 0 234 473 30 Kansas 111 244 0 0 0 355 31 Kentucky 87 298 0 0 132 517 34 Louisiana 28 262 0 0 105 395 49 Maine 1 5 0 0 0 6 45 Maryland 9 180 0 0 6 195 4 Mass.* 4,416 427 0 0 0 4,843 6 Michigan 1,079 3,069 0 0 2,664 6,812 28 Minnesota 41 572 0 0 104 717 39 Mississippi 2 123 0 0 44 169 16 Missouri 13 665 0 0 1,297 1,975 33 Montana 0 83 0 0 4 87 27 Nebraska 4 205 0 0 47 256 2 Nevada 1,416 748 0 0 49 2,213 48 New Hampshire 0 10 0 0 2 12 10 New Jersey 3,466 281 1 0 117 3,865 23 New Mexico 192 85 0 0 37 314 20 New York 0 9 1,147 3,405 129 4,690 26 North Carolina 346 133 0 0 781 1,260 47 North Dakota 1 0 0 0 13 14 7 Ohio 165 3,062 0 0 4,122 7,349 22 Oklahoma 222 366 0 0 168 756 36 Oregon 26 223 0 0 19 268 18 Pennsylvania 2,148 1,217 0 0 339 3,704 42 Rhode Island* 0 51 0 0 0 51 35 South Carolina 35 83 0 1 229 348 46 South Dakota 1 19 0 0 0 20 11 Tennessee 164 1,762 0 0 926 2,852 5 Texas 8 10,702 0 0 3,485 14,195 15 Utah 341 344 0 0 37 722 50 Vermont 0 1 0 0 0 1 41 Virginia 8 273 0 0 88 369 21 Washington 23 1,149 0 0 89 1,261 40 West Virginia 2 108 0 0 0 110 32 Wisconsin 335 222 0 0 32 589 38 Wyoming 0 19 0 0 12 31 Rate Rank State Name 1 for every #HH % change % change from Nov 06 from Dec 05 -- U.S. 1,055 -8.88 34.89 29 Alabama 3,011 -5.51 715.00 24 Alaska 2,597 -26.17 -20.20 12 Arizona 867 -17.00 7.54 19 Arkansas 1,529 -5.77 -20.19 14 California 968 -34.42 64.49 1 Colorado 376 -3.70 284.81 17 Connecticut 1,290 -9.52 6.13 44 Delaware 10,721 0.00 113.33 DC 68,711 0.00 -66.67 13 Florida 878 -11.12 3.37 3 Georgia 480 -8.52 114.67 43 Hawaii 10,710 -41.89 -30.65 37 Idaho 6,573 -65.52 -63.13 8 Illinois 708 13.74 65.30 9 Indiana 735 -8.01 1.45 25 Iowa 2,606 -4.83 42.90 30 Kansas 3,177 -14.46 24.56 31 Kentucky 3,386 -3.18 39.73 34 Louisiana 4,768 -16.31 287.25 49 Maine 108,649 50.00 0.00 45 Maryland 10,987 -54.01 -47.44 4 Mass.* 541 130.62 937.04 6 Michigan 620 -4.97 52.67 28 Minnesota 2,884 24.05 205.11 39 Mississippi 7,508 49.56 131.51 16 Missouri 1,234 22.75 96.91 33 Montana 4,737 -2.25 14.47 27 Nebraska 2,807 -51.70 12.78 2 Nevada 392 -11.69 96.89 48 New Hampshire 45,585 -7.69 71.43 10 New Jersey 856 -24.33 44.76 23 New Mexico 2,486 26.10 -53.41 20 New York 1,637 -3.91 4.22 26 North Carolina 2,794 -22.94 -15.94 47 North Dakota 20,691 7.69 133.33 7 Ohio 651 -10.38 8.60 22 Oklahoma 1,977 -17.83 -53.68 36 Oregon 5,432 -65.95 -47.45 18 Pennsylvania 1,417 15.71 12.11 42 Rhode Island* 8,624 -67.10 2450.00 35 South Carolina 5,036 -33.33 -37.30 46 South Dakota 16,160 -35.48 81.82 11 Tennessee 860 -20.65 43.82 5 Texas 567 3.89 11.31 15 Utah 1,065 -21.09 -17.11 50 Vermont 294,382 0.00 -83.33 41 Virginia 7,822 23.83 -0.54 21 Washington 1,897 -12.43 12.79 40 West Virginia 7,678 129.17 -6.78 32 Wisconsin 3,910 -33.14 40.57 38 Wyoming 7,221 -13.89 106.67 * Actual increases may not be as high due to expanded data coverage in this state. U.S. Foreclosure Rates Heat Map - Dec 2006 http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070117/LAW022 About RealtyTrac Inc.

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix and No. 53 on Inc. magazine's 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation's fastest-growing private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. (http://www.realtytrac.com/), is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.

Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new construction properties, with more than 1 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal's Real Estate Journal. For more information, visit http://www.realtytrac.com/.