R.I. foreclosures jump nearly 10% in 1Q

By Chris Barrett
PBN Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE – The number of foreclosure notices in Rhode Island rose 9.2 percent in the first three months of this year compared with 2009, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. The Irvine, Calif.-based real estate tracking firm said one in every 242 homes in the Ocean State received a foreclosure notice in January, February or March.

While the number of foreclosure notices increased compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the total fell 6.4 percent compared with the three months ended Dec. 31. Nationally, RealtyTrac said 1 in every 138 homes received a foreclosure notice during the first quarter, up 16 percent from a year earlier and up 7 percent from the prior quarter.

“Foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2010 followed a very similar pattern to what we saw in the first quarter of 2009: a shallow trough in January and February followed by a substantial spike in March,” said RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio.

“One difference, however, is that the increases were more tilted toward the final stage of foreclosure, with [bank repossessions] increasing 9 percent on a quarterly basis in the first quarter of 2010 compared to a 13 percent quarterly decrease … in the first quarter of 2009,” he said.

Nevada continued to have the most foreclosures, with one in every 33 homes in the state receiving a notice during the first quarter, RealtyTrac said. The other hardest-hit states were Arizona, California and Florida.

Additional information is available at realtytrac.com.