Here’s the good news: RealtyTrac, in its year-end foreclosure market report, reported that more than 2.3 million foreclosure filings — which includes default notices, bank repossessions and scheduled auctions — were reported on more than 1.8 million U.S. properties in 2012.
That might not seem like good news. But consider that 2012’s year-end foreclosure numbers were down 3 percent from those reported in 2011.
And if you want to feel even better about foreclosures? The numbers last year were down 36 percent from the all-time high year of 2010. In that year, RealtyTrac counted 2.9 millino properties with foreclosure filings against them.
The news wasn’t all good in the Midwest. Illinois saw a 33 percent increase in foreclosure activity in 2012 when compared to 2011. Indiana saw its foreclosure activity jump by 46 percent.
In better news, foreclosure activity in Michigan decreased 23 percent in 2012.
The five states with the highest foreclosure rates were Florida, with 3.11 percent of housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the year. Other states in the top five were Nevada, with a foreclosure rate of 2.70 percent; Arizona, 2.69 percent; Georgia, 2.58 percent; and Illinois, also 2.58 percent.
