MO foreclosures rise 3% in August

Missouri foreclosures increased by 3 percent in August compared to July, outpacing a relatively flat increase of 0.8 percent across the country, according to Irvine, Calif.-based home sales data tracking firm RealtyTrac.

RealtyTrac released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for August on Sept. 11. While foreclosures climbed last month, foreclosure activity dropped 11.8 percent in Missouri compared to August 2011. Activity declined by 15.1 percent in the U.S. in August compared to the same month last year.
 
Missouri ranked No. 22 in the nation in terms of the total number of foreclosures. Illinois had the highest rate of foreclosures nationwide last month. Compared to neighboring states, only Iowa ranked higher at No. 19. Tennessee finished at No. 24; Kentucky landed at No. 29; Oklahoma listed at No. 34; Kansas ranked 35; Nebraska held at No. 40; and Arkansas placed 41st.

Greene County’s foreclosure volume was significantly behind the national average. A total of 11 homes foreclosed during the month of August, or one out of every 11,399 housing units, according to RealtyTrac. The average rate of foreclosures in the U.S. last month was one out of every 681.  

St. Louis County posted the highest number of foreclosures in the state in August with 675, or one out of every 649 housing units. Jackson County came in second – 637 foreclosures – which represented one out of every 490 housing units. St. Charles County had the highest per capita rate of foreclosures: one out of every 480 housing units.  

Foreclosure starts — the number of default notices or scheduled foreclosure auctions, depending on the state — were filed on 99,405 U.S. properties last month, a 1 percent increase compared to July, but a 13 percent drop from August 2011, according to the report.