The foreclosure problem is still with us and will keep prices down. The real issue is we don’t know what inventory banks are holding that they have yet to put on the market.

—Stephen Miller, chairman of the economics department at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas

The fundamental forces driving foreclosure activity in this housing downturn — high-risk mortgages, negative equity, and unemployment — continue to loom over any nascent recovery. We continue to see foreclosure activity levels that are substantially higher than a year ago in most states.

—James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a release, which was selected from his statement and quoted in Bloomberg. The release was titled, “Foreclosure Activity Slows for Third Straight Month,” and Saccacio began his quote with: “Three consecutive monthly declines is unprecedented for our report, and on first blush an indication that the foreclosure tide may be turning.”

  • The top three states by foreclosure-rate, California, Nevada and Florida, accounted for almost half of the 330k foreclosures in October.
  • The top five exceeded half of all foreclosures in October, including Arizona and Idaho
  • The top ten exceeded 65% of all foreclosures in October, including Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Maryland, and Utah.
  • And the top twenty exceeded 80%, belying the 80/20 rule