November Foreclosure Data Mixed

Foreclosure data specialist RealtyTrac provided its report on monthly foreclosure activity today. In November, 306,627 homeowners filed for foreclosure. The good news is that's 8% fewer than in October. But November's number was still up 18% versus a year earlier. This appears to indicate that the short-term data is trending in a good direction, but state-level results are more mixed.

The usual suspects continue to have the highest rates of foreclosures per housing unit. Nevada topped the list with one in every 119 homes filing. Next on the list were Florida, California and Arizona, with one foreclosure for every 165, 180 and 186 homes, respectively. Those four continue to stand out. Here's the top 25:

Even though Nevada remains the worst state for foreclosure rate, its data is trending in a very positive direction. It had 32.9% fewer foreclosures in November than October, and 33.4% fewer compared to a year earlier. That latter statistic is actually the second most positive year-over-year decline in foreclosures among all states, so Nevada may be on the mend.

California is also trending in a good direction compared to October, with 13.4% fewer foreclosures. But it's year-over-year number isn't faring as well, with 22.3% more foreclosures than in November 2008.

Less positive news comes out of Florida and Arizona. Florida saw foreclosures increase by 2.0% from October to November and 7.6% year-over-year. Arizona was even worse, with a 7.5% monthly increase and a 9.2% increase compared to a year ago. In those markets, the foreclosure crisis continues to worsen.

Overall, 38 states saw fewer foreclosures in November than in October, but only 12 saw fewer foreclosures compared to a year ago.