Florida has shed a dubious honor it has held for the last six months: it no longer has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Nevada has officially surpassed Florida as the state with the highest foreclosure rate in March, according to numbers from RealtyTrac, the Sun Sentinel reported.
One in 306 homes in Nevada was in some stage of foreclosure last month, the Sentinel said. The Sunshine State still managed a respectable second, with one in 317 homes involved in foreclosure of some sort.
“Although the overall national foreclosure trend continues to head lower, late-blooming foreclosures are bolting higher in some local markets where aggressive foreclosure prevention efforts in previous years are wearing off,” a RealtyTrac spokesperson said in a statement to the Sentinel. “Meanwhile, more recent foreclosure prevention efforts in other states have drastically increased the average time to foreclose, which could result in a similar outbreak of delayed foreclosures down the road in those states.” [Sun Sentinel] –-Guelda Voien