For far too long, Florida led the nation when it came to residential foreclosures. But no more.
Maryland saw its foreclosure filings explode in October by 30 percent compared to the previous year, and its 5,943 properties in limbo made it the worst in the nation, pushing Florida to No. 2.
Yet, one in every 444 properties are in foreclosure, according to Florida Realtors and RealtyTrac. That is down 2 percent from September, and 25 percent from a year ago — and it did mark the 15th consecutive month Florida had a year-to-year decrease.
The Tampa area is down 23 percent from a year ago, but it was still the third highest metropolitan foreclosure rate in the country with one in every 395 properties facing a filing. Miami was the worst for cities with a population of 200,000 or more, jumping 11 percent from the previous month, but down 27 percent from a year ago.
Orlando was just behind with one in every 394 housing units in foreclosure. Other areas in Florida also made the national list including Jacksonville at fourth, Cape Coral-Fort Myers at sixth, Lakeland at eighth, and Pensacola at 10th.
Some of the drops in foreclosure came from a bump in auction activity, with Orlando up 23 percent in auctions, while other places like Cape Coral-Fort Myers were as high as 170 percent.
