Michigan foreclosures still on the rise

Michigan foreclosures still on the rise
August 21, 2007

By GRETA GUEST

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Michigan continued its rapid foreclosure pace in July, ranking third nationwide, according to figures released this morning.

Wayne County topped the list of major metropolitan areas, with a 70% jump in foreclosure activity in July compared with a year ago, according to RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based online foreclosure firm. The county reported 8,683 foreclosure filings in July, or one filing for every 97 households.


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Michigan ranked third with 13,979 foreclosure filings in July, up 39% from June and a 130% increase from July 2006. That's a rate of one foreclosure for every 320 households, compared to one for every 693 households nationwide, RealtyTrac said.


"While 43 states experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity, just five states -- California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia -- accounted for more than half of the nation's total foreclosure filings," said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.



RealtyTrac data, which has been criticized for inflating foreclosure filings, includes numbers for default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions in the total foreclosure filing numbers. In Michigan, the 13,979 filings breaks down into 2,293 default notices, 6,947 auction sale notices and 4,739 bank repossessions.