Utah ranks 13th in foreclosures

Utah ranked 13th in the nation for the number of foreclosure filings in October, with one in every 497 homeowners receiving some type of foreclosure notice, according to data released today.

A total of 1,812 Utah households received a foreclosure notice in October, a 3.78 percent increase from September and a 72.57 percent jump from the same time last year, the report from RealtyTrac Inc. said.

Nationwide, the number of homeowners caught in the wave of foreclosures in October grew 25 percent over the same month in 2007. More than 279,500 U.S. homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in October, an increase of 5 percent over September, according to RealtyTrac. One in every 452 housing units nationwide received a foreclosure filing, such as a default notice, auction sale notice or bank repossession.

More than 84,000 properties were repossessed in October, RealtyTrac said.

A nasty brew of strict lending standards, falling home values and a tough economy is filtering through the housing market. By the end of the year, the company expects more than 1 million bank-owned properties to have piled up on the market, representing around a third of all properties for sale in the United States.

The collateral damage in the financial markets forced the government to pass a $700 billion financial rescue package last month. The plan was initially to buy bad assets from banks, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that the rescue package won't purchase those troubled assets.

That plan would have taken too much time, he said, so the Treasury will rely on buying stakes in banks and encouraging them to resume more normal lending.

Also Wednesday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston said the government may let more borrowers qualify for a $300 billion program designed to let troubled homeowners swap risky loans for more affordable ones. The program was launched Oct. 1, but there are concerns that lenders won't participate because they have to voluntarily reduce the value of a loan and take a loss.

In RealtyTrac's report, three states — Nevada, Arizona, Florida — had the nation's top foreclosure rates. Nevada posted the nation's highest rate for the 22nd consecutive month in October.

In Nevada, one in every 74 homes received a foreclosure filing last month. Arizona saw one in every 149 housing units receive a foreclosure filing, and in Florida it was one in every 157 homes. Other states in the top 10 were California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio.