NeWS to KnOW

A new report showed foreclosures in the Birmingham area rose nearly 128 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter.

According to RealtyTrac, a tracker of national foreclosures, the Birmingham-Hoover metro area had a total of 1,262 properties in some form of foreclosure in the first quarter of this year, or one for every 395 households.

That’s a nearly 128 percent increase over fourth quarter 2008 and a more than 224 percent increase over the same quarter last year, said the report.

The numbers ranked Birmingham No. 131 out of 203 metro areas in the country.

Nationally, for the quarter, foreclosures rose more than 9 percent over fourth quarter and nearly 24 percent over first quarter 2008.

Cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona accounted for the 26 highest foreclosure rates among metros with 200,000 or more people, said the report. Las Vegas ranked No. 1 on the list for the quarter, with one foreclosure for every 22 households.

“The metro areas with the highest levels of foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2009 paint a picture of concentrated problems in a relatively small number of hard hit areas,” said James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac. “Sales activity appears to be increasing in some of these markets as home prices have fallen to levels that are attractive to first-time homebuyers and investors. While we expect many of these metro areas to continue to experience high levels of foreclosure activity throughout 2009, we also expect to see other markets rise up the ranks as unemployment rates surge throughout the country.”