Fort Smith metro foreclosure rate jumps 23.1% in 2009

The Fort Smith metro area saw a 23.1% jump in foreclosures in 2009 compared to 2008, according to a report from Irvine, Calif.-RealtyTrac.

There was a 21% jump nationwide in properties in some form of foreclosure action (2,824,674 properties) during 2009 compared to 2008. RealtyTrac, a closely watched source for foreclosure info, said the 2009 figures were 120% higher than 2007. The report also shows that 2.21% of all U.S. housing units (one in 45) received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, up from 1.84% in 2008, 1.03% in 2007 and 0.58% in 2006.

“As bad as the 2009 numbers are, they probably would have been worse if not for legislative and industry-related delays in processing delinquent loans,” James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, said in a statement. “After peaking in July with over 361,000 homes receiving a foreclosure notice, we saw four straight monthly decreases driven primarily by short-term factors: trial loan modifications, state legislation extending the foreclosure process and an overwhelming volume of inventory clogging the foreclosure pipeline.”

Four states accounted for more than 50% of the nation’s 2009 total, with more than 1.4 million properties receiving a foreclosure filing in California, Florida, Arizona and Illinois combined.

In the Fort Smith metro area (Crawford, Franklin, Logan and Sebastian counties in Arkansas; Leflore and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma), there were 1,335 properties in a foreclosure action in 2009, compared to 1,084 in 2008 and just 588 in 2007.

The biggest jumps in the Fort Smith area were seen in LeFlore County (225% increase over 2008) in Oklahoma and Crawford County (31.2% jump over 2008) in Arkansas.

Arkansas had 16,547 properties in a foreclosure action during 2009, up 15.2% over 2008 and up 158.3% over 2007. Oklahoma properties in a foreclosure action during 2009 totaled 12,937, up 3.7% over 2008 and up 56.6% over 2007.

Northwest Arkansas’ volatile housing market saw the most trouble in 2009, with 3,945 Benton County properties in foreclosure action, and 2,848 in Washington County.

FORT SMITH AREA FIGURES
Properties in the foreclosure process
Crawford County
2009: 349
2008: 266
2007: 179

Franklin County
2009: 41
2008: 38
2007: 13

Logan County
2009: 39
2008: 39
2007: 1

Sebastian County
2009: 639
2008: 627
2007: 387

Leflore County
2009: 260
2008: 80
2007: 2

Sequoyah County
2009: 7
2008: 34
2007: 6

MOST FILINGS PER HOUSEHOLDS (Top 5 Arkansas counties)
1. Benton County
2009: 3,945
2008: 3,283
1 filing per 22 households

2. Washington County
2009: 2,848
2008: 1,921
1 filing per 28 households

3. Saline County
2009: 895
2008: 724
1 filing per 45 households

4. Lonoke County
2009: 562
2008: 470
1 filing per 45 households

5. Pulaski County
2009: 2,753
2008: 2,620
1 filing per 63 households