April 2007 - Foreclosure rates up for U.S., down for Utah

While national foreclosures keep climbing, Utah rates are trending the other direction. The most-recent data from RealtyTrac indicates February foreclosures in Utah dropped nearly 9 percent compared to January, and foreclosures were down about 30 percent from last year. In contrast, foreclosures on a national level were up from 2006. From February 2006 to February 2007, U.S. foreclosures increased nearly 12 percent. National foreclosures in February did, however, drop about 4 percent from January. The report shows there was one foreclosure for every 884 U.S. households during February while there was only one foreclosure for every 915 Utah households. Compared to other states, Utah had the 15th-highest foreclosure rate.

"Based on our (national) numbers for the first two months of 2007, foreclosure activity is running at a rate that would project to a 33 percent increase over 2006," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a prepared statement. "It appears that as subprime and FHA loans default at higher-than-anticipated rates and lenders tighten their underwriting standards, we're going to continue to see a spike in the number of homeowners facing foreclosure."

On a local level, Weber County had the highest number of foreclosures in Utah at a rate of one foreclosure for every 251 households. Washington County came in second with one of every 618 households in foreclosure, and Davis County had the third-highest number of foreclosures with one for every 727 households.