Foreclosures down in most New Orleans areas in May

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jun 22, 2009 by Reports

Foreclosure filings dropped in most parts of the New Orleans area in May compared with May of last year, with St. Tammany Parish being the only area to report an increase, according to figures from RealtyTrac.

While foreclosure activity in Louisiana was down 16.4 percent from April, the state saw a 34 percent increase compared with a year ago.

Orleans Parish had the highest foreclosure rate in the metro area, with one in every 472 housing units receiving a filing, which includes default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. With 237 filings issued, Orleans saw a 23 percent drop from April and a 4 percent drop from May 2008.

St. Tammany Parish, with 111 filings, followed with a rate of one in 851, a 7.5 percent decrease from April but a 16.8 percent increase from a year ago.

Jefferson Parish had the area's lowest foreclosure rate, one in 1,027. The 176 May filings were an increase of 15 percent from April but down 3 percent from a year ago.

Louisiana's 941 filings in May produced a foreclosure rate of one in 1,976, 40th among the 50 states.

Nationwide, there were 321,480 filings, equal to one in every 398 homes. It's a 6 percent decrease from April but up 18 percent over a year ago.