Nevada retains high rank in foreclosures

Nevada held onto its high rank for home defaults in July, as lenders boosted foreclosure completions.

The Silver State ranked No. 4 for foreclosure activity in the month, with one in every 587 homes in some stage of the default process, California research firm RealtyTrac reported Wednesday.

Only Florida, Maryland and New Jersey ranked higher.

Nationally, one in 1,057 homes was in foreclosure, up 14.4 percent compared with July 2014.

Lenders made progress on finishing foreclosures: The number of bank-owned home sales in Nevada spiked 64.3 percent year over year in July, to 419 closings. The wave was part of a broader jump in foreclosure completions, which skyrocketed 81 percent nationwide.

Statewide foreclosure starts, which happen when banks send an initial notice of default, fell 11.1 percent year to year in July, to 922 filings. Starts were also off nationwide, dropping 8.6 percent.

"The increase in overall foreclosure activity over the last five months has been driven primarily by rapidly rising bank repossessions, which in July reached the highest level since January 2013," said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac. "Meanwhile, foreclosure starts in July were at the lowest level since November 2005 — a nearly 10-year low that demonstrates the recent rise in bank repossessions represents banks flushing out old distress rather than new distress being pushed into the pipeline."

Nevada was No. 5 nationally for its increase in scheduled foreclosure auctions. The state's 23 percent gain came in after New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Contact Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Follow @_JRobison on Twitter.