Background:

RealtyTrac®, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, recently released its May 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report^TM, which shows foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – were reported on 321,480 U.S. properties during the month, a decrease of 6 percent from the previous month but an increase of nearly 18 percent from May 2008.

"May foreclosure activity was the third highest month on record, and marked the third straight month where the total number of properties with foreclosure filings exceeded 300,000 – a first in the history of our report," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "While defaults and scheduled foreclosure auctions were both down from the previous month, bank repossessions, or REOs, were up 2 percent thanks largely to substantial increases in several states. We expect REO activity to spike in the coming months as foreclosure delays and moratoria implemented by various state laws come to an end."

Florida posted the third highest state foreclosure rate in May, with one in every 148 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, behind Nevada (one in every 64) and California (one in every 144). Default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions in the state were all down from the previous month, but it still posted the nation's second highest number of properties with foreclosure filings: 58,931, up 50 percent from May 2008.

Georgia, Texas and Virginia were also on the list of the top 10 highest total foreclosure states. These top 10 states accounted for nearly 77 percent of total properties with foreclosure filings nationwide.

Foreclosures in SLC States: May 2005 - May 2009