Fla. retains No. 3 foreclosure ranking - South Florida Business Journal:

Fla. retains No. 3 foreclosure ranking - South Florida Business Journal:: "Florida continues to hold on to the No. 3 spot in the nation for foreclosure filings, with one in every 33 housing units receiving at least one foreclosure filing in the first six months of this year, according to RealtyTrac. Only Nevada and Arizona had more.
Between January and June, Florida had 268,064 foreclosure filings.
Florida also ranked second in the nation for the number of total foreclosures in the first half of this year, with activity increasing 7 percent from the previous six months and up nearly 42 percent from the first half of last year.
In South Florida, Miami-Dade County ranked seventh in the state, realizing 34,442 foreclosure filings, or one in every 28 homes, by mid-year.
Broward County ranked fourth, with 36,654 filings, or one in every 22 homes. Palm Beach County fared better, ranking 45th in the state, with 14,303 filings, or one in every 45 homes.
Nationwide, RealtyTrac found there were 1.9 million foreclosure filings reported on 1.5 million properties in the first six months of the year, a 9 percent increase in total properties compared to the previous six months and nearly a 15 percent increase when compared to the first six months of last year.
In June alone, foreclosure filings were reported on 336,173 homes nationwide. That’s the fourth straight monthly total exceeding 300,000, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listing service.
Florida ranked fourth in the nation in the number of foreclosures in June, with 52,899 filings."Miami-Dade County had 5,881 of those filings, down 24 percent from May, but up 11 percent compared with the same month last year.
Broward County had 6,378 filings, down 43.6 percent from the previous month, but up 1.37 percent from the same year-ago period.
Palm Beach County had 3,194 filings, down 15.55 percent from May, but up 15.6 percent from June 2008.
“In spite of the industrywide moratorium earlier this year, along with local, state and national legislative action and increased levels of loan modification activity, foreclosure activity continues to increase to record levels,” said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO. “Unemployment related foreclosures account for much of this increased activity, and the high number of borrowers who find themselves owing more than their homes’ are now worth represent a potentially significant future risk.”
On Wednesday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported that the number of homeowners delinquent on mortgages had climbed 6.5 percent in April.
The number of mortgages owned or guaranteed by Fannie (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie (NYSE: FRE) at least 60 days delinquent rose from 1.1 million in March to 1.17 million in April. Total delinquencies reached 3.87 percent of all Fannie and Freddie mortgages in April, with 10.33 percent of nonprime mortgages at least 60 days late.