RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report(TM): Foreclosure Activity Up Over 55 Percent in First Half of 2007

New 'Unique Address' Measurement Shows More Than 573,000 Properties in Some

Stage of Foreclosure During First Six Months of 2007

    IRVINE, Calif., July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- RealtyTrac(R)
 (http://www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure
 properties, today released its Midyear 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report,
 which shows a total of 925,986 foreclosure filings -- default notices,
 auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- were reported on 573,397
 properties nationwide during the first six months of the year, up more than
 30 percent from the previous six-month period and up more than 55 percent
 from the first six months of 2006. The report also shows a foreclosure rate
 of one foreclosure filing for every 134 U.S. households for the first half
 of the year.
     RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national
 database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1 million
 properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the
 foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The
 Wall Street Journal's Real Estate Journal.
     "Despite a slight drop in June, foreclosure activity shows no sign of
 slowing down," noted James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of
 RealtyTrac. "Based on the rate of foreclosure activity in the first half of
 2007, we could easily surpass 2 million foreclosure filings by the end of
 the year, which would represent a year-over-year increase of over 65
 percent."
     Nevada, Colorado, California post top foreclosure rates
     Nevada posted the nation's highest foreclosure rate, with one
 foreclosure filing for every 40 households during the first half of 2007.
 The state reported a total of 25,208 foreclosure filings on 14,687
 properties, more than double the number of foreclosure filings reported in
 the previous six-month period and nearly triple the number reported in the
 first half of 2006.
     Colorado reported one foreclosure filing for every 60 households during
 the first half of 2007, the nation's second highest state foreclosure rate.
 The state reported a total of 34,287 foreclosure filings on 19,411
 properties, a 15 percent increase from the previous six-month period and a
 38 percent increase from the first six months of 2006.
     With one foreclosure filing for every 69 households during the first
 half of 2007, California registered the nation's third highest state
 foreclosure rate. The state reported a total of 189,560 foreclosure filings
 on 104,572 properties, up 122 percent from the previous six-month period
 and up 232 percent from the first half of 2006.
     Other states with foreclosure rates among the top 10 included Michigan,
 Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Arizona, Connecticut and Indiana.
     California, Florida, Texas, Ohio document largest foreclosure totals
     California's foreclosure filing total and unique property count were
 both highest among all the states in the first half of 2007. Florida
 reported the second highest totals, with 102,213 foreclosure filings on
 64,250 properties. Florida's foreclosure rate -- one foreclosure filing for
 every 81 households -- ranked fifth highest among all the states.
     Texas reported 69,471 foreclosure filings in the first half of 2007 --
 the nation's third highest foreclosure filing total. But the state's unique
 property count of 41,592 came in fourth place behind Ohio's 44,594. Ohio
 reported 60,728 total foreclosure filings, the fourth most of any state.
 Other states with foreclosure filing totals among the nation's 10 highest
 were Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Colorado, New Jersey and Arizona.
     New "Unique Property" feature provides additional detail
     The new "unique property" count is an addition to the RealtyTrac U.S.
 Foreclosure Market Report and presents the number of unique property
 addresses with some type of foreclosure action filed against them during
 the six-month period. This new metric counts a property only once, even if
 there were multiple foreclosure filings against the property during the
 report period. RealtyTrac will issue this count four times a year,
 including a mid-year and annual report.
     "The addition of this metric to our foreclosure report was spurred by a
 data request for unique property addresses from the Federal Reserve Bank,
 which is using our data for market and risk analysis, and we believe it
 will serve as a valuable complement to the total foreclosure filing count
 that we have been including all along," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice
 president of marketing. "It's interesting to note that the total
 foreclosure filings and unique property counts reveal almost identical
 trends on the national level: foreclosure filings are up 39 percent from
 the previous six months and 56 percent from the first half of 2006; unique
 property counts are up 32 percent from the previous six months and up 58
 percent from the first half of 2006."
     The consistency is similar at the state level, where the same five
 states have the highest numbers of households in foreclosure and
 foreclosure filings, and the same six states have the highest percentages
 of both foreclosure filings per household and percentage of households in
 the foreclosure process. "The bottom line," Sharga noted, "is that no
 matter how you count -- by individual households or by the total number of
 foreclosure filings -- foreclosure activity is up significantly in 2007. We
 hope that by providing both the total amount of foreclosure activity and
 the number of households involved, we're providing information that
 legislators, regulators, lenders, homebuyers and sellers can use to make
 intelligent and informed decisions."
     Report methodology
     The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides the total number
 of foreclosure filings nationwide and by state, along with the number of
 households per foreclosure filing. The household numbers are based on the
 U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 estimates of total housing units.
     Beginning with the Midyear 2007 report, the report also includes counts
 of unique addresses in some stage of foreclosure. This new metric only
 counts a property once, even if there were multiple foreclosure actions
 filed against the property during the time period covered by the report.
     Data is also available at the individual county level. RealtyTrac's
 report includes documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default
 - Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction - Notice of
 Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate
 Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a
 bank).
         U.S. Foreclosure Market Statistics by State - Jan to Jun 2007
 
     Rate  State  Foreclosure  1 filing    %      %    Unique   %      %
     Rank  Name     Filings    for every Change Change Props Change Change
                                 #HH     from   from          from    from
                                         prev 6  First        prev 6  First
                                         months  Half         months  Half
                                                  2006                 2006
 
     --  U.S.        925,986     134       39     56   573,397   32     58
     38  Alabama       4,113     506       34    223*    3,203   41    209*
     36  Alaska          579     474        1     18       563    1     19
     8   Arizona      27,515      92       74    128    15,551   61    118
     16  Arkansas      6,901     181       32     13       N/A  -17    -35
     3   California  189,560      69      122    232   104,572   80    170
     2   Colorado     34,287      60       15     38    19,411   11      9
     9   Connecticut  13,198     108      117    133*    5,559  202    489*
     41  Delaware        540     694      113    190*      484  149    229*
         District of
         Columbia         40   6,944      -25    -33       N/A  -25    -34
     5   Florida     102,213      81       48     84    64,250   41     77
     7   Georgia      45,027      84       24     13    26,623   21     17
     43  Hawaii          531     925       56     59*      435   38     80*
     22  Idaho         2,459     242      102     91     1,418   36     21
     11  Illinois     42,998     120        7     33    30,524   16     39
     10  Indiana      24,388     112       13     -6    14,046    4      7
     29  Iowa          3,215     407       66    114*    1,995   39    117*
     37  Kansas        2,508     477        9     38     1,573   21     44
     31  Kentucky      4,503     414        7     55     3,122   -5     26
     39  Louisiana     3,660     530       67    411*    2,385  -20    331*
     46  Maine           509   1,343      292    660*      N/A  129     22*
     25  Maryland      7,034     323      207    215     5,706  206    280
     15  Mass.        18,355     146       46    455*    7,946   63    334*
     4   Michigan     55,896      80       30     47    40,175   25     84
     30  Minnesota     5,519     408       57    122*    4,887   62    185*
     45  Mississippi     939   1,316       44    140*      614   14     59*
     17  Missouri     14,082     184       51     68    10,764   37     80
     40  Montana         647     662       17     26       571   14     18
     35  Nebraska      1,679     457      -13     52*    1,626  -12     84*
     1   Nevada       25,208      40      102    195    14,687   78    152
     32  New
         Hampshire     1,402     416     1511  2,237*      N/A   72    188*
     13  New Jersey   27,671     124       21     61    13,417   10     26
     28  New Mexico    2,123     395       29    -41     1,507   12    -30
     23  New York     26,146     300        2     -1    19,262   24     47
     19  North
         Carolina     17,428     226       75     39    13,944   97     99
     48  North Dakota    154   1,977       97     56       125   71     45
     6   Ohio         60,728      82       43     56*   44,594   52     92*
     20  Oklahoma      6,819     233       -5    -19     4,618  -20    -21
     27  Oregon        4,634     336       29    -22     3,780    9     11
     26  Pennsylvania 16,184     335      -13    -18    12,869   -3     -1
     24  Rhode Island  1,489     301       58    343*      N/A  129    473*
     42  South
         Carolina      2,146     898      -17    -51     1,982  -15    -36
     49  South Dakota    161   2,161       13     10       N/A  350    -79
     12  Tennessee    21,447     123       22     12    12,313   19     19
     14  Texas        69,471     130      -10    -13    41,592   -9     -8
     18  Utah          4,633     188      -23    -34     3,437  -17    -36
     50  Vermont          18  17,075      100    -50        14  367     -7
     34  Virginia      7,430     427      204    289     5,413  235    345
     21  Washington   10,988     241       29     10     7,480   22     11
     44  West Virginia   722   1,208       62     69       N/A   56     99
     33  Wisconsin     5,925     422       50     63     4,218   33     61
     47  Wyoming         164   1,437      -37     12       142  -14     15
     About RealtyTrac Inc.
     Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix and No. 53
 on Inc. magazine's 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation's fastest-growing
 private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. (http://www.realtytrac.com), is the
 leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the
 resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to
 locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.
     Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most
 comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale
 By Owner, resale and new homes, with more than 1 million properties across
 the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive
 professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors
 monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate,
 Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal's Real Estate Journal. For
 current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and
 trends, visit our blog at http://www.ForeclosurePulse.com.
 
 

SOURCE RealtyTrac Inc.