Lee County foreclosures jump to 17,960 in December

Foreclosure rates in Lee County have increased for the month of December over the same period last year, according to First American CoreLogic, the leading collector of national, state and local data on home prices, foreclosure and delinquency activity, real estate sales volume and mortgage loan activity.

According to recent data on foreclosures for the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area, the rate of foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans is 11.9 percent for the month of December, an increase of 6.3 percentage points compared to December of 2007 when the rate was 5.7 percent. The number of outstanding foreclosures in Cape Coral- Fort Myers, including new and existing filings, is 17,960 for December of this year. Data represents the current inventory of foreclosure filings for the month reported based on data received to date.

Foreclosure activity in Cape Coral- Fort Myers is higher than the national foreclosure rate which was 1.7 percent for December 2008, representing a 10.2 percentage point difference.

Also in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, the mortgage delinquency rate has increased. According to First American CoreLogic preview data for December 2008, 18.5 percent of mortgage loans were 90 days or more delinquent compared to 10 percent for the same period last year, representing an increase of 8.40 percentage points.

Foreclosure data for First American CoreLogic is reported based on the actual number of active mortgage loans rather than the total number of households in a given area, which provides more accurate results by removing paidin full mortgages from the equation.

For detailed information on foreclosures by zip code and property, visit www.realquest.com.