Florida is No. 2 for foreclosures

Florida has snagged the No. 2 spot from California, posting the nation’s second-highest foreclosure rateConcrete Bladein November, according to RealtyTrac.

That translates to one in every 165 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.

California, which posted the nation’s third-highest foreclosure rate, saw one in every 180 housing units receive a foreclosure filing during the month, the Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure database reported.

Nevada topped the list, with one in every 119 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in November – 3.5 times the national average.

For the second month in a row, the same four states accounted for 52 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure activity: California, Florida, Illinois and Michigan.

After two month-over-month decreases, Florida foreclosure activity increased slightlyConcrete Bladein November. A total of 52,935 Florida properties received foreclosure filings during the month, up nearly 2 percent from the previous month and up nearly 8 percent from a year ago.

Nationwide, things were a little better, with 306,626 propertiesboxgoing into foreclosure. That’s down 8 percent from the previous month, but still up 18 percent, year-over-year. That translates to one in every 417 homes receiving a foreclosure filing in November.

“Loan modifications and other foreclosure prevention efforts, along with the recently extended and expanded homebuyer tax credit, are keeping a lid on the most visible symptoms of the nation’s ailing housing market – foreclosures and home value depreciation,” RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said in a news release. “This is providing a welcome respite for the real estate industry, but a full recovery will only come when unemployment recedes to normal, healthy levels and when availability of credit reaches a more rational balance between the extremes of the past few years.”

Florida metropolitan areas had two of the top 10 foreclosure rates: Cape Coral-Fort Myers came in fourth, with one in every 96 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, and Orlando-Kissimmee came in at No. 8, with one in every 120 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metropolitan statistical area ranked 13th, with 17,726 filings, or one out ofConcrete Bladeevery 136 homes. TheboxMSA was down 0.91 percent from October, but up 11.5 percent, year-over-year.