Foreclosures continue to be a problem holding back Nevada’s real estate market, according to real estate analytics firm RealtyTrac.
RealtyTrac reported foreclosures in Nevada jumped almost 40 percent last month, making the state the second in the country for the highest residential foreclosure rate.
RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist told KNPR's State of Nevada that part of the reason we're seeing an increases is because of efforts to slow down foreclosures during the height of the housing crisis.
"What we're seeing now is some of those homeowners, who started going down one of the paths to foreclosure prevention, that did not succeed and [they] ended up in foreclosure," Blomquist said.
He believes the efforts to prevent foreclosures were well intentioned but they just delayed the inevitable for many homeowners.
RealtyTrac found one in every 555 homes statewide was subject to a foreclosure filing. Only Florida was worse with one in 425 homes having a foreclosure filing.
Nye County topped the list of counties with the highest foreclosure rates, with one in every 234 homes subject to a filing. Clark County ranked fourth with one in every 509 residential properties subject to a foreclosure filing.
Blomquist believes we'll see more people walking away from mortgages.
"I think the combination of some of these foreclosure prevention efforts not sticking for some of these homeowners as well as home price appreciation slowing is going to result in some of these homeowners, who might have held on and white knuckled it so far, just deciding its not worth it to keep holding on to those homes," he said.
Blomquist also said the rise of foreclosures is indications of the so-called shadow inventory, which are homes held by struggling homeowners that haven't made it to the foreclosure market yet.
He said it shows that while on the surface the economy is getting better there are still people in financial distress.
RealtyTrac releases Nevada Real Estate Trends and Market Information on a monthly basis.
Daren Blomquist, vice president, RealtyTrac