• 30
  • July
    2010

Despite some good news for the Nashville area, foreclosure rates around the country continue to remain high, especially in metro areas hit hard by the collapse of the real estate market. However, it appears that foreclosure filings are now being driven by factors such as job loss and continued high unemployment as well as the weak housing market.

In the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin area, in particular, the rate of foreclosure stood at 1.39 percent for the month of June, far below the national average of 3.06 percent. The June figure is a relatively small drop from recent months in which we have seen the rate drop from just over 1.5 percent in March to 1.47 percent in May and now to the current figure.

There has also been a decline in one of the chief signs of possible foreclosure, the delinquent mortgage rate. Typically delinquent mortgages are considered those that are more than 90 days past due. The local rate of delinquency fell from 5.7 percent in May to 5.5 in June.

While the rates are improvement over the last several months, it should be noted that both foreclosure rates and mortgage delinquency rates are still higher now than they were at this time last year. It isn't clear if we are just seeing a temporary reduction in foreclosure and mortgage delinquency or if we reached the peak of these measures last year and are now seeing the beginning of a slow recovery.

Across the rest of the country, foreclosure rates remain high, especially in those areas that had booming real estate markets four of five years ago. States such as Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California still have many of the highest rates of foreclosure, but many of the metro areas hardest hit in recent years are no longer seeing dramatic increases in foreclosure rates.

Related Resources:

Nashville foreclosure rates continue to fall (Nashville Business Journal)

Foreclosure activity up across most US metro areas (Associated Press)