Foreclosure rate declining but Utah still in dubious top 10 list for distressed properties

The rate of homes falling into the foreclosure process is declining in Utah. But the Beehive State still ranked among the 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, according to a report.

RealtyTrac on Wednesday released its Mid-year 2012 Foreclosure Market Report, which showed more than 1 million U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — in the first half of 2012. The report showed a 2 percent hike from the previous six-month period, but the numbers were still down 11 percent from the first half of 2011.

The report also showed that 1 in 126 U.S. housing units had at least one foreclosure filing in the first six months of the year.

Utah recorded the 10th-highest foreclosure rate with 1 in 108 housing units — 0.93 percent — registering a filing. The state's rate fell 42 percent from the same period last year and was down more than 19 percent from the last half of 2011. DeseretNews