Foreclosures Hit Record High In April

(And no, not from smoking up shoots or otherwise).

For anyone curious just what the manure is that the administration and the MSM are feeding the already wilting green shoots, look no further than the chart below: it demonstrates the number of foreclosures as disclosed by RealityTrac. Just to assuage any potential confusion, higher means worse, and the fact that we are at an all time high is not all that good either (this is merely for the convenience of talking heads on CNBC who tend to get confused by complex data on occasion, and invert it by 180 degrees as per a certain hypothetical Welch memo).

And in order to remove even a smidgen of misinterpretion, here is what RealityTrac itself had to say about the data:

“Total foreclosure activity in April ended up slightly above the previous month, once again hitting a record-high level,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Much of this activity is at the initial stages of foreclosure – the default and auction stages – while bank repossessions, or REOs, were down on a monthly and annual basis to their lowest level since March 2008. This suggests that many lenders and servicers are beginning foreclosure proceedings on delinquent loans that had been delayed by legislative and industry moratoria. It’s likely that we’ll see a corresponding spike in REOs as these loans move through the foreclosure process over the next few months.”

Nothing like a little regulatory action to forestall the inevitable, only to be met with yet another iteration of the law of unintended (and much more adverse) consequences. As Zero Hedge disclosed previously, the moratoria are gradually being lifted, and the flood of detritus real estate will be enough to drown out any and all green sh(oo)ts before they even have the change to appear.

As for specific metro areas, if you live in Nevada, Florida or Arizona (at the same time), there is a near virtual certainty you are currently being foreclosed on and there is very likely a wrecking ball headed straight at you with some serious momentum.

Some region specific commentary from RealityTrac:

Despite an 18 percent decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month, Nevada continued to post the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate in April, with one in every 68 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing — more than five times the national average. The decrease in Nevada was driven largely by a 44 percent drop in bank repossessions from the previous month, although default notices also decreased from the previous month. Total foreclosure activity in Nevada was up 111 percent from April 2008.

A 37 percent month-over-month increase in foreclosure activity boosted Florida’s foreclosure rate to second highest among the states in April. One in every 135 Florida housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month, more than 2.7 times the national average. The monthly increase in Florida was driven by a spike in default notices and auction notices, but bank repossessions were down 7 percent from the previous month. Total foreclosure activity in Florida was up 75 percent from April 2008.

Foreclosure activity in California decreased 10 percent from the previous month, but the state still posted the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate in April, with one in every 138 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Total foreclosure activity in California was up 42 percent from April 2008.

Arizona posted the fourth highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 164 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in April, and Idaho posted the fifth highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 255 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in April.

Other states with foreclosure rates ranking among the nation’s 10 highest were Utah, Georgia, Illinois, Colorado and Ohio — although the foreclosure rates in Illinois, Colorado and Ohio were below the national average.