ATLANTA -- The Peach State had the sixth-highest foreclosure rate in the nation through the first half of 2011.
According to the RealtyTrac Midyear 2011 Market Report, Georgia had 60,870 foreclosures through half the year -- down 15.4 percent from the same period of 2010.
"It would be nice to report that foreclosure activity is dropping as a result of improvements in the economy or the housing market,"
said RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio. "Unfortunately, with unemployment rates inching back up, consumer confidence weak and home sales and prices continuing to languish, this doesn't appear to be the case. Processing and procedural delays are pushing foreclosures further and further out -- we estimate that as many as 1 million foreclosure actions that should have taken place in 2011 will now happen in 2012, or perhaps even later. This casts an ominous shadow over the housing market, where recovery is unlikely to happen until the current and forthcoming inventory of distressed properties can be whittled down to a manageable number."
There were 1,170,402 foreclosure filings nationally in the first six months of 2011 -- a 29 percent decrease from the first half of 2010.
RealtyTrac defines a foreclosure as default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.
(Atlanta Business Chronicle)