Foreclosures increase in Virginia

BY CAROL HAZARD
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
Published: April 30, 2008

Virginia had the 15th highest foreclosure rate among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the first quarter, according to figures released yesterday by RealtyTrac, an online resource of foreclosed properties.
One in every 246 households in Virginia — or a total of 13,151 — received notices of default, auction sales and bank repossessions from January through March, up 526 percent from the same period a year ago.
The report showed that the Richmond region had the 24th lowest foreclosure rate among 100 cities. Yet, the number of notices here rose 1,341 percent from a year ago to one in every 425 households, or a total 1,182, properties in some phase of foreclosure.
RealtyTrac noted that the actual increases may not be as high in Virginia and Richmond due to data collection changes or improvements.
Also ranked was the Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News area, which came in at No. 84 — or the 16th lowest among 100 metro areas. One in every 544 households there, or a total of 1,095 properties, received notices of foreclosures in the first quarter, up 366 from the same period a year ago.
The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria area ranked No. 22, with one in every 112 households receiving notices, or a total 15,108 properties, up 546 percent from a year ago.
“Foreclosure activity in the first quarter increased on a year-over-year basis in 46 out of the 50 states and in 90 of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, demonstrating that most regions of the country are seeing more foreclosures,“ said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.
The number of U.S. foreclosures rose 112 percent in the first three months of the year from the same period a year ago, with one in every 194 households receiving notices, or a total of 649,917 properties.
Nevada had the highest number of foreclosure filings, with one in every 54 households receiving notice, or a total of 19,595 properties.