Springfield area foreclosures fall 18% since fourth quarter

One in every 304 housing units in the Springfield metropolitan area received a foreclosure filing in the first quarter, according to the latest RealtyTrac report.

The Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure-tracking firm on April 22 released its Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report for the first quarter, ranking 203 U.S. metro areas with populations of at least 200,000.

The Springfield metro area ranked No. 111 on the list, with 603 properties with foreclosure filings during the quarter. That represents 0.33 percent of total housing units in the area, according to the report. Local foreclosure filings were down 18.07 percent from fourth-quarter 2008 but up 86.11 percent from first-quarter 2008.

Nationwide, one in every 159 household units had at least one foreclosure filing against it during the quarter, a 9.16 percent increase since the fourth quarter.

Cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona accounted for the 26 highest foreclosure rates in the quarter. Las Vegas posted the highest rate, with 4.48 percent of its housing units receiving foreclosure filings, or one in every 22 properties.

"The metro areas with the highest levels of foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2009 paint a picture of concentrated problems in a relatively small number of hard hit areas," RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said in the report. "Sales activity appears to be increasing in some of these markets as home prices have fallen to levels that are attractive to first-time homebuyers and investors. While we expect many of these metro areas to continue to experience high levels of foreclosure activity throughout 2009, we also expect to see other markets rise up the ranks as unemployment rates surge throughout the country."

RealtyTrac's data incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: default, auction and real estate-owned. If more than one document is filed against a property during the month or quarter, only one is counted in the report.