Detroit foreclosures lead nation

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Detroit led all U.S. metro areas in the percentage of homes entering foreclosure during the third quarter, at more than four times the national average, according to a report released Friday.

The report, by RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, also said that the foreclosure rate has spiked, up 17 percent from the previous quarter and 43 percent from a year earlier.

James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, attributed the increase to the broad slowdown in home sales and price growth and to the higher monthly payments on adjustable-rate mortgages that are resetting.

The three cities with the highest foreclosure rates were a wildly disparate bunch; the Motor City, where auto industry woes have taken a huge toll on homeowners, was followed by Ft. Lauderdale in the Sun Belt, and Denver, the first city of the Rockies.

Of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, the Bethesda/Frederick/Gaithersburg area of Maryland had the lowest foreclosure rate, just one for every 5,505 households, about 1/68th the rate reported for Detroit.

Of the cities with the 10 highest foreclosure rates, only Indianapolis showed some recovery during the quarter, with 2.5 percent fewer homes entering foreclosure than in the second quarter.

The other nine cities recorded increases that ranged from 2 percent (Memphis) to 97 percent (Miami). The Chicago area, ranked 19th, led in terms of sheer numbers: 16,155 homes entered into foreclosure there during the third quarter.

Some of the places where the foreclosure rates fell substantially included Portland, Ore. (- 72 percent), Albuquerque (- 62 percent), Columbia, S.C. (- 52 percent) and Austin (- 32 percent).

The nation's largest metro area, New York City, including Westchester County and parts of New Jersey, had just 6,467 homes enter foreclosure during the quarter, a drop of 13 percent. That was roughly half the rate of the nation as a whole.

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