Foreclosures fall sharply in southern New Jersey

Foreclosures fall sharply in southern New Jersey
By KEVIN POST Business Editor Press of AC, 609-272-7250
Published: Thursday, March 12, 2009

The broad easing in southern New Jersey of the national foreclosure crisis continued in February, a sign that the region may be getting past the worst of the real estate slump.

The rate of foreclosure filings fell by a quarter or more in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean counties, even as such filings increased 6 percent nationally, according to RealtyTrac, the Irvine, Calif.-based provider of foreclosure market information.

Atlantic and Ocean counties each saw filings fall 24 percent in February.

One in every 815 homes in Atlantic County was subject to a foreclosure filing in February, an improvement from the one in 617 homes in January. In Ocean County, the rate fell from one in 785 to one in 1,027 homes.

Cape May County foreclosures dropped 27 percent, from one in 1,133 to just one in 1,544.

Cumberland County, which had seen the worst of the foreclosure crisis locally and was last to show improvement, cut its foreclosures 52% in February. The rate dropped dramatically from one foreclosure for every 481 homes to just one in 1,005 in February.

Foreclosures reached one in 440 nationally, a 6 percent increase and more than RealtyTrac Chief Executive James Saccacio expected. He said various government and bank programs to delay or suspend foreclosures were in place, but large ones expired in Florida and New York, which saw increases of 14 percent and 24 percent respectively.

The hardest-hit state continued to be Nevada, with one foreclosure for every 70 homes, a 9 percent increase. Las Vegas was the foreclosure capital, with one home in 60 affected.

Arizona, California and Florida remained with Nevada at the epicenter of the crisis. The four states together accounted for 55 percent of all foreclosures in the nation in February.

New Jersey was 29th among states with one filing per 1,067 homes, a 34 percent drop from the month before.