Report: Charlotte foreclosure rate jumps 420%, Manatee's rate drops 31%

In most states, foreclosure filings were down in November. 

Not Florida. 

The Sunshine State, along with Nevada and Connecticut, are outliers in posting increases in residential foreclosure filings, according to the November Foreclosure Market Report from land, property and real estate analytics firm Attom. There were a total of 29,390 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — in November, the report shows. That’s down from 9% a year ago and 5% from October. 

“The slight decline in U.S. foreclosure activity during November most likely reflects the seasonal ebb we often see this time of year,” Attom CEO Rob Barber says in a statement. 

One in every 4,795 housing units nationwide had a foreclosure filing in November. Florida, however, had a foreclosure filing rate at one of every 3,047 units. That trails only Nevada, which had one foreclosure filing in every 2,941 housing units, according to the Attom report. Miami had a foreclosure filing rate of one in every 2,551 housing units in November, the report found. That was the fourth-highest rate in the country.

The November foreclosure rate was mixed for the individual counties on the west coast of Florida. Charlotte County, for one, had the most foreclosures of any of the nine counties in the Business Observer’s coverage area, with 423 in November. That’s up 442.31% over October and 819.57% year over year, the report shows. The county’s 423 November foreclosure filings is also significantly higher than any other county in the region; Hillsborough is the closest, at 254.

Two counties north, in Manatee, the data is much different: There were 24 foreclosures in that county in November, down 40% from October and 31.43% year over year. A pair of other counties, Collier and Polk, also posted monthly and year-over-year decreases in foreclosure rates. 

Florida, meanwhile, is also near the stop of foreclosure starts. Lenders initiated 2,438 foreclosure starts in November in Florida, the Attom report shows, which is slightly behind the No. 1 state in that category, Texas. Florida is ahead of California, New York and Pennsylvania in foreclosure starts.