By Andy Owens
aowens@scbiznews.com
Published Dec. 10, 2009

Foreclosure numbers fell in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties between October and November, but they still were up from a year ago in Charleston and Dorchester counties, according to data released this morning by the national real estate tracking firm RealtyTrac.

The actual number of properties with at least a notice of default filed against it in those three counties was 675 for November, down by 191 homes from October and down 65 from September, RealtyTrac reported.

Foreclosures in South Carolina were down more than 23% from October to November, showing a dramatic change as actual numbers of properties in financial trouble continued to fall.

Distressed properties are still hurting the Palmetto State in year-to-year numbers, with November 2009 being almost 10% higher than November 2008, RealtyTrac reported.

Out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, South Carolina ranks 30th in the number of foreclosures, with one out of every 911 homes in the state with at least a notice of default filed against it. Florida, which ranked No. 2, showed one home out of every 165 was in the process of foreclosure, and the state had a month-to-month increase of 1.97% in foreclosure filings.

Nationally, foreclosures were down 8%, RealtyTrac reported in its monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

The company reported that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 306,627 properties in the U.S. during November, up 18% from November 2008. The report also shows one in every 417 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in November.

For the second month in a row, RealtyTrac reported the same four states accounting for 52% of the nation’s total foreclosure activity: California, Florida, Illinois and Michigan.

“November was the fourth straight month that U.S. foreclosure activity has declined after hitting an all-time high for our report in July, and November foreclosure activity was at the lowest level we’ve seen since February,” said RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio.

Saccacio credited loan modifications and other foreclosure prevention efforts, along with the extension of the federal homebuyer tax credit, with keeping foreclosures and home value declines in check.

“This is providing a welcome respite for the real estate industry, but a full recovery will only come when unemployment recedes to normal, healthy levels and when availability of credit reaches a more rational balance between the extremes of the past few years,” he said.

Foreclosures across major markets in S.C. for October to November

Source: RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report