Utah ranks 9th in foreclosures

By Jasen Lee, Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 9:48 p.m. MDT

Utah had the ninth-highest rate of foreclosure filings in the nation during the first three months of this year, according to a report released Wednesday.

The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for the first quarter of 2009 showed that one in every 151 households had a foreclosure filing, just above the national average of one in every 159 households.

The rate of foreclosure filings in Utah jumped nearly 87 percent compared to the same period last year and 12.47 percent over the previous month, the report stated. Utah replaced Ohio in the top 10 quarterly rankings, Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac marketing and communications manager, told the Deseret News.

"The Western states are getting hit pretty hard in general, and Utah is following that trend," he said.

Blomquist attributed the prevalence of Alt-A interest loans as a major contributor to the increase in foreclosure filings nationwide.

An Alt-A loan, short for alternative A-paper, is a category of mortgage that has a risk potential that is greater than prime but less than subprime, Blomquist said.

"There were a lot of those loans given out over the last few years," he said. "Those are the next wave of loans that are resetting."

He said as the number of loans with variable interest rates adjusts, the number of homeowners defaulting likely would increase.

Utah ranked 18th in the nation in the number of homes in foreclosure during the first quarter of 2008. At the time, one in every 274 Beehive State households had received a foreclosure filing during the period.

Nationally, foreclosure filings were up 17 percent over February 2009, and they were 46 percent higher than March 2008. The March and first quarter 2009 totals were the highest monthly and quarterly totals recorded since the real estate marketing firm, based in Irvine, Calif., began issuing its report in January 2005.

RealtyTrac publishes a national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties from approximately 2,500 counties across the nation.

Nevada continued to have the country's highest state foreclosure rate during the quarter, registering one filing for every 27 housing units — over five times the national average, the report said. The state's rate was up 19 percent compared to the previous quarter and increased almost 111 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008.

Arizona posted the nation's second-highest state foreclosure rate for the period, with one in every 54 households receiving a foreclosure filing. California had the third-highest rate, with one in every 58 housing units receiving a filing. Florida, with one in every 73 households recording a filing, ranked fourth, followed by Illinois, with one in every 135 households receiving a foreclosure filing.

The states of Michigan, Georgia, Idaho, Utah and Oregon rounded out the 10 states with the highest rate of foreclosure filings.

Foreclosures "came back with a vengeance" last month and are likely to keep rising, said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's senior vice president for marketing.

Contributing: The Associated Press

E-mail: jlee@desnews.com
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