Foreclosure rate dips, but Nevada remains one of worst-hit states

A “for sale” sign is displayed outside a foreclosed home near Hacienda Avenue and Jones Boulevard on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011.

Nevada’s foreclosure rate plunged last month but was still high enough to keep the state in the top 10 of America’s worst-hit states.

Nevada had the fifth-highest foreclosure rate in the country in September, with 1 in 496 homes in foreclosure, according to a report out today from research firm RealtyTrac. Florida was No. 1 (1 in 318 homes), followed by California (1 in 361), Illinois (1 in 376) and Arizona (1 in 398).

Even though its foreclosure rate fell by 19 percent, Nevada’s ranking was unchanged from August. Last month, 1 in 402 Nevada homes was in foreclosure.

Nationally, foreclosure filings fell by 7 percent from August to September. Last month’s U.S. total was the lowest since July 2007, RealtyTrac said.

Nevada led the country in foreclosures for 62 consecutive months until March. The state’s year-old “robo-signing” law, which forces banks to provide more paperwork before they foreclose on homes, has drastically slowed the pace of these public auctions.

Meanwhile, the falling rate has helped push up home prices by reducing the valley’s inventory of available homes for sale.

Despite a drop in overall sales volume, the median sales price of single-family homes last month was $140,000, up 1.4 percent from $138,000 in August and up 13.5 percent from September 2011, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

The median sales price of condominiums and townhouses was $70,250 last month, up 2.6 percent from $68,500 in August and up 24 percent from a year ago.

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