Recent data suggest that the worst of the residential foreclosure crisis has passed, especially in some of the hardest-hit areas of the Gulf Coast.
For example, RealtyTrac reports that while the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area still ranks as the third-highest rate of foreclosures in the nation, foreclosures there fell 5% in the third quarter compared to the second quarter. They also fell 2% compared to the same quarter in 2008.
In the Sarasota area, foreclosures fell nearly 7% on an annual basis in the third quarter. In the Tampa Bay region and the Naples-Marco Island area, they fell 5%.
RealtyTrac executives say some of the declines can be attributed to the fact that the subprime mortgages that made up the bulk of foreclosures in recent years are finally abating.