Central Valley city makes ‘top 10’ foreclosure list

STOCKTON
August 10, 2006 7:11am

Increasing foreclosure activity in the second quarter saw the Central Valley port city of Stockton ranked eighth in the nation for the percentage of households in some aspect of losing their home through foreclosure.

The figures are compiled by RealtyTrac of Irvine, which describes itself as an online marketplace for foreclosed properties.

The Stockton foreclosure rate increased 2 percentage points in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year, RealtyTrac says.

According to RealtyTrac, 1,228 homes in Stockton were in some aspect of the multi-stage foreclosure process in the second quarter. It equates to one out of every 154 homes in the city – 2.32 times the national average.

It’s the first time Stockton has made the company’s “top 10” list.

Elsewhere in the Central Valley, Modesto is tied with Cleveland for the 19th spot on the national list. Modesto’s foreclosures were 64.69 percent higher in the second quarter than in the first quarter of the year. There were 751 homes entering foreclosure in Q2, says RealtyTrac, equal to one for every 201 homes in the city.

Sacramento is ranked 26th, Fresno 41st, and Bakersfield 65th in the nation, according to RealtyTrac.

Indianapolis, Atlanta and Dallas posted the nation’s three highest metropolitan foreclosure rates in the second quarter of 2006, duplicating the top three metro foreclosure rates from the previous quarter.

The report, which ranks the foreclosure rates of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas, shows that three other cities — Denver, Memphis, Tenn., and San Antonio — also registered foreclosure rates among the nation’s top 10 for the second quarter in a row.

In addition to Stockton, the others on the list are Salt Lake City and the Texas cities of Austin and Houston.

“Four Texas cities now have foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 thanks to increasing foreclosures in Austin and Houston during the second quarter,” says James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “But the increase in those two cities was not the norm. The majority of metros we track, along with the nation as a whole, reported fewer foreclosures compared to the previous quarter.”