D.C. ranked 20th in the nation in number of foreclosure filings in August, according to numbers released yesterday by data provider RealtyTrac Inc.
The District had a total of 275 foreclosure filings last month, or one filing for every 1,010 households.
Virginia ranked 17th, with one filing for every 832 households and Maryland ranked 14th , with one filing for every 688 households.
Area homeowners are in somewhat better shape than many – the national foreclosure rate for August was one filing for every 510 households, up 115 percent from the same time last year.
As a whole, the D.C. metro area has the second lowest foreclosure rate among the nation’s 15 largest metropolitan areas, with only Minneapolis homeowners fairing better, according to an analysis of recent quarterly numbers by Stephen Fuller, director of the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis.
Distant suburban counties with larger low-income populations, such as Prince William County, account for many of the area’s foreclosure filings, Fuller said.
Even so, foreclosures in the D.C. metro area have increased more than six-fold since last year, reflecting the dire state of nation’s housing market in the wake of the subprime mortgage market collapse.
“This is a problem that has grown and is growing fast and it will get bigger before it gets better,” Fuller said.
TIP: People who have lost their homes to foreclosure can turn to a new section on the Internal Revenue Service Web site to find out whether they qualify for foreclosure-related tax relief.
