Report says foreclosures ease in first half of 2010

MANATEE — We’re still up there, but not as high as we used to be.

So says RealtyTrac, which released data today showing the Manatee/Sarasota region had the 23rd-highest rate of foreclosure activity among U.S. metropolitan areas in the year’s first six months.

That’s better than the area’s 17th-place finish in 2009 and No. 11 ranking in 2008, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure tracking service.

Analysts said various foreclosure-prevention efforts, including the recent implementation of a local mediation program, are behind the latest improving numbers. But they cautioned the foreclosure crisis is far from over.

“They (lenders) slowed down a little while trying to figure out the new rules, but they’ll pick back up,” said Dawn Bates-Buchanan, managing attorney of Gulfcoast Legal Services’ Bradenton office.

According to RealtyTrac, 10,369 properties in Manatee and Sarasota counties received some sort of foreclosed-related notice between Jan. 1 and June 30. That’s equal to one in every 38 households.

The number of filings was 10 percent lower than in the preceding six months, but little-changed from the first half of 2009.

Bates-Buchanan said filings fell as banks and their lawyers waited for 12th Judicial Circuit officials to develop and implement the mediation program, which took effect June 21. The program requires all foreclosure suits targeting homesteaded properties in DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties to be referred to mediation unless both sides waive it.

The filing slowdown was evident elsewhere in Florida as the rest of the state’s 20 judicial circuits implemented their own mediation programs. But the state continued to be well-represented among the worst-performing markets, accounting for 11 of the 25 highest foreclosure rates.

Among them:

n Cape Coral-Fort Myers: One in every 20 homes receiving a foreclosure filing, second-highest nationally.

n Orlando-Kissimmee: One in 24 homes, No. 8 nationally.

n Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater: One in 37 homes, No. 20 nationally.

Las Vegas, at one in every 15 homes, again had the highest rate of foreclosure activity among the 206 U.S. metro areas studied, RealtyTrac said.

Lowest was Utica-Rome, NY, with just one in 4,859 homes getting a filing.

The report also showed foreclosure activity is slowing down in the hardest-hit areas, but picking up across the nation as a whole. Three-quarters of metro areas saw an increase, said James Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive.

“The fragile stability achieved in many local housing markets hinges on improvements in the underlying economy, specifically job growth,” he said. “If unemployment remains persistently high and foreclosure prevention efforts only delay the inevitable, then we could continue to see increased foreclosure activity and a corresponding weakness in home prices in many metro areas.”

Duane Marsteller, transportation/growth and development reporter, can be reached at 745-7080, ext. 2630.