Although nationwide foreclosure activity improved last month, metrics deteriorated in Maryland — leaving state with the worst foreclosure rate in the country.
Last month saw 48,079 foreclosures started on U.S. residential properties, fewer than the 48,838 foreclosures initiated in January.
Newly filed foreclosures
also slowed from February 2014, when mortgage servicers started the foreclosure process on 51,842 loans.
RealtyTrac released the data on Thursday.
More foreclosures were initiated in California than any other state: 5,029. No. 2 Texas had 3,585 foreclosure starts, then 3,576 in Florida, 3,251 in New York and 2,676 in Illinois.
With just three foreclosures started during February, North Dakota had the fewest.
Including all types of filings —
default notices, scheduled auctions and repossessions — activity totaled 101,938 in February, far fewer than the 119,888 filings a month earlier and also down from 112,498 a year earlier.
At the top of this list was Florida, where there were 15,793 total filings last month. California followed with 11,538, then Illinois’ 5,840, Ohio’s 5,123 and Texas’ 4,773.
Just
five total filings were counted in North Dakota, the fewest of any state.
Servicers filed a foreclosure on each 1,295 U.S. housing units during the latest month.
The foreclosure rate improved from a filing on every 1,102 properties in January and one filing on each 1,170 housing units in February 2014.
With one filing for every 564 properties, Maryland jumped to the top of the list. Next was Nevada’s one-in-569, then Florida’s one-in-570, Indiana’s one-in-871 and Idaho’s one-in-877
The most-favorable foreclosure rate was in North Dakota: one-in-64,942.
U.S. borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure numbered 24,305 in February. Completed foreclosures tumbled from 37,292 the previous month and 30,307 during the same month the previous year.
Last month’s finalizations brought year-to-date activity to
61,597.
Real-estate-owned filings
totaled 4,844 in Florida, the most of any state. No. 2 California had 2,208 REO filings, followed by 1,515 in Illinois, 1,505 in Ohio and 1,185 in Texas.
Just two homes were repossessed in North Dakota, the fewest in the nation.
