4 Utah cities among top foreclosure sites

Four of Utah's most populated metro areas are among the nation's highest foreclosure cities, according to a newly released report.

The RealtyTrac Midyear 2009 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report showed that Provo-Orem, Salt Lake City, Ogden-Clearfield and St. George would all rank among the top 60 metropolitan statistical areas with the highest household rate of foreclosure filings nationwide.

According to the report, of the metro areas with populations of at least 200,000 people (203 markets were ranked), Provo-Orem ranked 31st nationally with a rate of one filing for every 45 households. Salt Lake City ranked 58th at one in 74 households; Ogden-Clearfield ranked 59th at one in 74 as well, however, with a lower percentage of its housing units with a foreclosure filing.

Dixie's St. George ranked highest in the state with a rate of one in 28 households receiving a filing, but was not listed among the top metro areas in the report due to its smaller population. The national average was one in 84, according to the report.

The data was collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide, using documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure, including default, auction, and real-estate-owned properties.

Though many of the hardest-hit metro areas in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and California posted declining foreclosure activity in the first half of 2009, other areas of the country that were not previously considered foreclosure hot spots have seen increased levels of activity, the release said.

For instance, more than 20 percent of the metro areas that showed above-average foreclosure activity were in states such as Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Oregon, South Carolina and Utah, suggesting that much of the new foreclosure activity may be more directly related to growing unemployment than continuing fallout from subprime and adjustable rate loans, the release stated.

"While some of the markets that had the highest saturation of foreclosures over the past few years have seen declining rates, new markets like Provo, Utah, and Boise, Idaho, have seen large increases," James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac said in the release. "As unemployment rates increase in different parts of the country, it's very likely that we'll see similar patterns develop elsewhere."

Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac marketing and communications manager, told the Deseret News that another pattern that could be on the horizon for Utah is an increase in foreclosure activity as lenders complete the foreclosure process on properties that are currently in progress, making them real-estate-owned or bank-owned properties.