REO & Foreclosure Blog

U.S. property foreclosures hit a record-high rate in April, but Indiana dodged the dismal trend with fewer foreclosures.

The record 342,038 repossessions, default notices and other types of foreclosures filed last month probably can be attributed to the end of moratoriums on foreclosures put in place earlier this year by President Barack Obama and individual lenders, said RealtyTrac. The California-based company tracks foreclosures nationally.

Indiana, which in 2005 ranked among the top five states for foreclosure filings, dropped to 15th in April, with 5,019. The number is a 2 percent decrease from March and practically unchanged from April of last year.

But the Indianapolis area's home-buying market continues to see large numbers of foreclosures and short sales, in which proceeds from the sale fall short of the balance owed. They made up one-third of the 1,700 home sales in the nine-county Indianapolis metro area in April, said Re/Max of Indiana.

Nationally, Nevada, Florida and California showed the highest foreclosure rates last month. One of every 135 Florida housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month.

Las Vegas posted the highest foreclosure rate among cities, with 14,073 filings, or one for every 56 Las Vegas housing units. The other top 10 metro areas for foreclosures were all in California or Florida, said RealtyTrac, which markets foreclosure properties online.