Georgia dropped to the state with the eighth-highest foreclosure rates in the second quarter of 2008, according to the Realtytrac second-quarter foreclosure report which was published on Friday. Last quarter, the state ranked sixth in the nation.

Additionally, metro Atlanta measured twentieth overall among cities with the most foreclosures.

Realtytrac, which measures foreclosure filings – default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions - reported that 27,253 homes in Georgia fell into foreclosure during the second quarter. That’s a drop of 2.63 percent from the first quarter, but still 85.12 percent above last year – representing a foreclosure rate of one out of every 140 Georgia homes.

The great majority of those foreclosures were in the Atlanta metro area, where RealtyTrac reported 22,484 foreclosures – or one out of every 91 homes. That’s a drop of 0.31 percent from the first quarter, but still a year-over-year increase of 77.05 percent.

Nationwide, second-quarter foreclosures increased almost 14 percent from the first quarter of 2008 – and jumped 121 percent from the second quarter of 2007.

While the foreclosure picture looks bleak in Atlanta, things could be much worse. Stockton, California led the nation in foreclosures, with one out of every 25 households receiving a foreclosure notice during the quarter.

We’d love to be your closing attorneys in Atlanta. Want to know more? Contact us and we’ll be happy to discuss how Harlan and Associates can be of service to you!

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