5. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta,GA
> Foreclosure rate: 1 in 298 homes
> Number of homes: 2,165,495 (9th most)
> Foreclosures: (April, 2012): 7,271 (4th most)
> Home price decline from peak: 35% (14th largest decline)
As of the fourth quarter of 2011, home values in Atlanta fell by 35% from their peak. The Atlanta area has the ninth most housing units of any region on the list, at 2,165,495, and the median price of these homes was just $110,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011. To make matters worse, the area’s April 2012 foreclosure figure was a staggering 7,271 homes — the fourth most among the nation’s largest cities. Things may be on the upswing though — from the number of homes in foreclosure fell by 11% from the prior month.
4. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville,CA
> Foreclosure rate: 1 in 277 homes
> Number of homes: 871,793 (23rd fewest)
> Foreclosures: (April, 2012): 3,147 (12th most)
> Home price decline from peak: 54.7% (5th largest)
The first California city on this list, the Sacramento-Arden-Arcade Roseville area had one in 277 homes in foreclosure in April. With home prices down 54.7% from their high at the end of 2005, the Sacramento area registered the fifth-largest decline in home prices. The area had the twelfth-most foreclosures in the U.S. However, foreclosures are down by 39.01% from last year, when April 2011 had 5,160 homes in foreclosure. Additionally, the number of foreclosures also decreased by 26.7% from the previous month, from 4,294 to 3,147. Fiserv expects home prices in the area to rise 6.3% annually through the fourth quarter of 2016.
3. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Pompano Beach,FL
> Foreclosure rate: 1 in 273 homes
> Number of homes: 2,464,417 (5th most)
> Foreclosures: (April, 2012): 9,031 (3rd most)
> Home price decline from peak: 54.2% (7th largest decline)
The Miami metro region topped all Florida regions in the number of new foreclosures. It also ranks third in new foreclosure rates among the 50 largest metros with 9,031 foreclosures in April, 2012 — a rate of one in 273. While foreclosures in the area decreased between March, 2012, and April, 2012, to the tune of 9.2%, the future appears gloomy. Prices in this region are forecast to fall another 3.8% between the fourth quarters of 2012 and 2013.
2. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV
> Foreclosure rate: 1 in 249 homes
> Number of homes: 840,343 (22nd fewest)
> Foreclosures: (April, 2012): 3,378 (10th most)
> Home price decline from peak: 61.8% (the largest decline)
Home prices in Las Vegas, the poster child of the housing crisis, plunged by 61.8% from their peak in early 2006 through 2011 — the greatest decline of any of the nation’s 50 largest metros. Although new foreclosures in the Las Vegas-Paradise region declined by 66.1% to 3,378 over the past year, the number of foreclosures in April represents a slight increase over March, when 3,301 new homes were in foreclosure. Making matters worse, prices are expected to fall by another 3.3% between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the fourth quarter 2013, according to Fiserv.
1. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario,CA
> Foreclosure rate: 1 in 213 homes
> Number of homes:1,500,344 (14th most)
> Foreclosures: (April, 2012): 7,049 (5th most)
> Home price decline from peak: -56.6% (2nd largest decline)
As of the fourth quarter of 2011, prices in the Riverside metro area fell by 56.6% from their peak, the second largest drop among top-50 metros. In addition, this region is first in terms of now foreclosure rate, at one in 213. While the number of homes (1.5 million) ranks 14th of the 50 largest regions, the area’s new foreclosure count for April, 2012, reached 7,049 — fifth highest overall. It appears, however, that, the situation is improving; between March, 2012 and April, 2012, foreclosures dropped 10.8%.
-Michael B. Sauter
