RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, Thursday said foreclosure activity in 2012 increased from 2011 in 120, or 57 percent, of the nation's 212 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 200,000 or more.
Releasing its 2012 Year-End Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, the market researcher said foreclosure activity during the year decreased from 2010, when foreclosures peaked in most markets, in 181 out of the 212 markets tracked in the report.
Foreclosure activity in 2012 decreased from 2011 in 12 out of the nation's 20 largest metro areas, led by Phoenix, San Francisco, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Diego.
However, 2012 foreclosure activity increased in eight of the 20 largest metros, led by Tampa, Miami, Baltimore, Chicago and New York.
Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said, "Markets with increasing foreclosure activity in 2012 took the first step in finally purging delayed distress left over from the bursting housing bubble. Meanwhile, the underlying fundamentals in many of those markets are slowly improving, making it an opportune time to absorb additional foreclosure inventory this year."
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com