Real Estate ? RealtyTrac: Foreclosure filings drop again

The number of U.S. properties in some stage of foreclosure fell 14 percent year-over-year in April, according to market researcher RealtyTrac.

The number of foreclosure filings hit its lowest level since July of 2007, according to the report.

There were 188,780 properties with default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions in April, a 5 percent decline from March.

RealtyTrac reports that one in every 698 housing units in the country is in some stage of foreclosure.

First-time default notices were filed on 97,665 properties in April, down 2 percent from a year earlier and 4 percent from March. Lenders completed the foreclosure process on 51,415 properties in April, a 26 percent year-over-year decline and a 7 percent drop from March.

Nevada, California and Florida continued to have the highest foreclosure rates, according to the RealtyTrac data.

?Rising foreclosure activity in many state and local markets in April was masked at the national level by sizable decreases in hard-hit foreclosure states like California, Arizona and Nevada,? RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore said in a statement. ?Those three states, and several other non-judicial foreclosure states like them, more efficiently processed foreclosures last year, resulting in fewer catch-up foreclosures this year.?

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data, Foreclosure filings

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