It isn’t a race, but those of us in Florida no doubt wonder how we are doing compared to other states. We are proud of our sports teams and how they score. But how do we score in terms of our financial health?
Last month we shared the news in a blog post that nationwide, bankruptcy filings fell 13 percent and that Florida currently ranks 14th in terms of bankruptcy filings. Thankfully, there are fewer bankruptcies so far in 2012, compared to 2011. Recently it has been reported that our foreclosures are falling also. Even so, Florida ranks second in foreclosures nationwide. California is first.
CoreLogic’s National Foreclosure Report was issued recently which gave us some numbers, although the causative factors were not reported. CoreLogic describes itself as a “leading provider of consumer, financial and property information, analytics and services to business and government.”
The top five states for completed foreclosures are:
- California: 119,000
- Florida: 92,000
- Michigan: 61,000
- Texas: 57,000
- Georgia: 54,000
Florida led the country however, in the number of mortgaged homes that are somewhere within the home foreclosure process. We have 11.2 percent in the process currently, which is down from 12.3 percent at the same time last year. New Jersey has 5.7 percent of homes in foreclosure and nationwide 3.2 percent of all mortgaged homes are in the foreclosure process. That is slightly less than it was the same time last year.
For many Americans, home ownership is part of the American Dream. The good news is that there are options to save a home from foreclosure. One of those options is bankruptcy which will place a halt to foreclosure proceedings. Halting a foreclosure can buy some time in which to explore other financial options, including bankruptcy, without the added pressure of a pending forced sale or eviction.
Source: The Florida Times-Union, “Foreclosures down, but Florida still No. 2 in United States,” Aug. 28, 2012