Tampa Bay foreclosures climb

GULF COAST — March foreclosure and delinquency rates from Tampa to Fort Myers continue to be a good news-bad news scenario. These rates have been decreasing from Bradenton to Fort Myers, but continue to climb in the Tampa Bay market.

According to real estate research firm CoreLogic, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area continues to show the lowest foreclosure rates and delinquency rates from Tampa to Fort Myers. The area's foreclosure rate was 9.99% in March, down 2.4% from the same month a year ago. Its delinquency rate was 15.64%, a decrease of 2.97% from March 2011. The delinquency rate shows the percentage of mortgage loans that are 90 days or more delinquent.

The foreclosure rate among outstanding mortgages in the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota area was 11.48% in March, a decrease of .60% from the same month in 2011, CoreLogic reports. The delinquency rate also decreased in March compared with a year ago, to 16.08% from 16.56%.