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In December, 24,576 properties in Florida received a foreclosure notice -- one for every 360 housing units in the state.
That rate is nearly double the national incidence; across the U.S., one out of every 634 homes received a foreclosure notice, according to RealtyTrac.
The Gulf Coast counties with the highest foreclosure rates were Charlotte (one out of every 212 units) and Manatee (one in 266).
The county with the lowest rate of new foreclosure filings was Collier, which nearly matched the U.S. rate. There, one filing was issued for every 528 housing units, with just 358 total notices issued, including 327 in Naples.
Individual cities with the highest rates of foreclosure filings were Lehigh Acres in Lee County (one in 96 housing units), Land O Lakes in Pasco (one in 104), Riverview in Hillsborough (one in 150) and North Port in Sarasota (one in 151).
Across the United States, both total foreclosure activity and the foreclosure rate were at their lowest annual level since 2007. But RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore cautions those hoping to interpret the fact as a positive sign.
“Foreclosures were in full delay mode in 2011, resulting in a dramatic drop in foreclosure activity for the year,” Moore explains. “We are continuing to see a highly dysfunctional foreclosure process that is inefficiently dealing with delinquent mortgages — particularly in states with a judicial foreclosure process.”
Moore expects nationwide foreclosure activity to be higher in 2012 than it was in 2011, although still below the 2010 peak.
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