Foreclosures Down from Last Month, Up From Last Year

Minnesota home foreclosures in 2008 are currently on pace to beat 2007, which itself was a record year. A short but informative Star Tribune article digs into the numbers from RealtyTrac:

"The number of June filings in Minnesota was 75 percent higher than in June 2007, but 23 percent lower than in May 2008."

75 percent higher, folks. So clearly we're not out of the woods yet. This is a market reality that we're likely going to have to live with for the next few years. There is a silver lining to these numbers, though:

"...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."

Overall, Minnesota ranks 29th amongst the 50 states in our foreclosure rate, down from 25th last month. The highest foreclosure states are those areas which saw the biggest price appreciation and now have damaged affordability—Nevada, California and Arizona. For perspective, Nevada saw foreclosure proceedings begin for one in every 122 households in June, and California was close behind at one in every 192 (from a Reuters article).

While we're on the subject, keep your eyes open in the next two weeks for an updated Q2 market report on Twin Cities foreclosures and short sales. For a friendly reminder, here's a link to the Q1 report.