Nevada Tops Foreclosure Ranking for 2008
With more than seven percent of its total residential properties in foreclosure in 2008, Nevada topped all other U.S. states in foreclosure rate last year. In the foreclosure report of California-based housing research firm RealtyTrac, Nevada had 77,693 properties in foreclosure in 2008, a jump of 126 percent from its 2007 foreclosure level and an overwhelming jump of 530 percent from its 2006 level.
Nevada’s foreclosure rate is much higher than the nationwide foreclosure rate of 1.8 percent in 2008. Across the nation, there were 2.3 million homes which were foreclosed last year, a jump of 81 percent from 2007 figures.
The hardest hit area in the state is Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, with 67,223 units in foreclosure. This represents 8.9 percent of all the county’s homes, an increase of 121 percent from the foreclosure rate in 2007. Among large U.S. cities, Las Vegas is second in foreclosure rate, with nearly 9 percent of its residential properties in foreclosure.
The other hard-hit counties in Nevada are Lyon which posted a foreclosure rate of 7.7 percent, Nye which posted 5.6 percent, Washoe which had 3.9 percent and Douglas which posted 2.07 percent. Washoe, which includes Reno, had 6,790 units in foreclosure.
Daren Blomquist of RealtyTrac said he expects the foreclosure rate to continue to increase in the West in 2009 because of the rise in unemployment and the scheduled increase in interest rates for adjustable-rate mortgages. He is doubtful about the effects of foreclosure interventions because of the failure of many foreclosure mitigation initiatives launched in 2008.
Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s online research firm Economy.com, is doubtful about the recovery of the housing market in 2009. He said the current recession and the market overloaded with foreclosed properties will push down home prices deeper into the pit. He indicated 2010 as the probable start of recovery.
