Mortgage Collapse Hits Florida Hard; Foreclosures Up 111% In The Sunshine State

Miami, FL (AHN) - Not only are foreclosure filings are up 280 percent in South Florida, according to a report published by the Default Research Inc, Florida ranks second in foreclosures behind California, another study reveals.

Default Research reported 11,715 foreclosure filings in South Florida for the month of August, and almost 97 percent of the filings are residential.

"The South Florida real estate market is continuing to struggle," said Serdar Bankaci, founder of Default Research in a press release. "Median prices have been slowly coming down while inventories have remained relatively constant. Approximately 2.64 percent of South Florida homes are facing foreclosure which is very close to the national average of just above 2 percent."

Its findings, while showing that the residential market is weak, finds that the commercial market is strong and doing well.

"We have noticed positive signs in the commercial markets and also from the foreign investors," Bankaci said. "South Florida is unique in that it attracts buyers from around the world. With our fresh and accurate lists, Realtors and other real estate professionals should target money from abroad to complete deals and pitch the discounted properties as investments."

Default Research claims its data on foreclosures are two to three weeks ahead of its competition.

Of the 11,715 foreclosure filings, Default Research foreclosure reported that more than half of these filings come from three counties and 15 cities as follows:

Broward County: 2,063 foreclosure filings from: Coral Springs with 567 filings; Fort Lauderdale with 428; Miramar with 388; Hollywood with 354; and Pompano Beach with 326. Total number of properties in foreclosure in Broward County: 35,829.

Miami-Dade County: 3,367 foreclosures filings from: Miami with 2,171; Homestead with 447; Hialeah with 446; Miami-Beach with 180; and Doral with 123. Total number of properties in foreclosure in Miami-Dade County: 31,092.

Palm Beach County: 1,891 foreclosures filings from: West Palm Beach with 738; Lake Worth with 368; Boca Raton with 320; Boynton Beach with 263; and Delray Beach with 202. Total number of properties in foreclosure in Palm Beach County: 16,007.

Florida also ranks second in the nation in foreclosures with 286,285, according to data collected by RealtyTrac, another company that tracks foreclosures. The top five foreclosure states are: California with 627,440; Florida with 286,285; Ohio with 115,954; Michigan with 112,969; and New Jersey with 64,636. RealtyTrac reports that more than 300,000 foreclosures were filed nationwide in August.

According to RealtyTrac, Florida has reported 178,850 new foreclosures since Jan. 1, with 15,877 in June. The average sales price of a foreclose is $169,235.

The top five Florida counties reporting foreclosures in June are: Broward: 7,104; Lee: 5,132; Miami-Dade: 5,087; Orange: 3,087; and Pinellas: 2,061.