ForeclosureS.com put out a press release today entitled Growing Foreclosure Numbers Don’t Spell Doom. In it, ForeclosureS.com CEO Alexis McGee parrots the MBA’s Doug Duncan, who (in)famously said last week that the record number of foreclosure filings registered during the first quarter weren’t indicative of a nationwide crisis:
“…don’t be fooled by the numbers. The overall economy is sound, and markets will turn around,â€? says Alexis McGee. … “Even the Mortgage Bankers Association’s just-released Mortgage Delinquency Survey reported that except for several key states, overall mortgage delinquency rates dropped in first quarter 2007 over fourth quarter 2006 numbers,â€? says McGee.
Well, if the MBA is saying it, who am I to question it? The company, responding to growing criticism over the foreclosure industry’s reporting tactics, has now now taken to reporting per capita foreclosure rates — something the company’s competitors have been doing for well over a year. (It also added a full section to the press release called “Foreclosure 101,” in an effort to win over the media.) This newly-found statistical prowess found that — surprise! — Nevada is the epicenter of the new foreclosure market:
In pre-foreclosure filings, Nevada led the nation per capita with 17 out of every 1,000 of its homeowners in the first stage of the foreclosure process. A year ago that state had just 7.2 filings for every 1,000 of its households. The rest of the top five states per capita so far this year include Colorado (10.8 filings per 1,000 households), Florida (9.4 per 1,000 households), California (7.7 per 1,000 households), and Utah (6.4 per 1,000). Texas topped the nation by per capita in filings of notices of foreclosure auction, stage 2 in the foreclosure process, with more than 9 of every 1,000 households facing difficulties to date this year. That’s up more than 33 percent from the same time period last year. The state also leads the nation in total number of auction filings so far this year—32,011.
