Atlantic City tops U.S. metro foreclosure rates for fourth straight month
By Hilary Russ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Atlantic City, New Jersey's fiscally distressed gambling hub, posted the highest U.S. metro foreclosure rate in October for the fourth month in a row, according to data released on Wednesday.
One in every 257 houses in Atlantic City had a foreclosure filing last month, more than four times the national average, said RealtyTrac, which tracks housing market trends.
Foreclosure activity in the seaside city rose 14 percent in October from the previous month, driven by a 26 percent spike in foreclosure starts, when properties begin a foreclosure action for the first time.
Atlantic City's total foreclosure activity soared 134 percent from a year ago.
The city and surrounding area are still reeling from the closure of four of Atlantic City's 12 casinos last year. The closings led New Jersey's Atlantic County to lose a higher percentage of jobs than any other major U.S. county in 2014.
Columbia, South Carolina, and Trenton, New Jersey, had the second and third highest foreclosure rates for the month, respectively, among U.S. metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more.
Overall, U.S. foreclosure activity increased 6 percent from September, but was still 6 percent lower than in the same month a year ago, the data showed. Foreclosure filings were reported on 115,134 properties for the month, or one in every 1,147 housing units nationwide.
More than 48,600 properties had foreclosure starts in October, causing a 12 percent increase in total U.S. foreclosure starts, the biggest monthly jump since August 2011.
Among U.S. states, Maryland had the highest foreclosure rate in October, with a filing for one in every 466 housing units. North Dakota, where there were just eight foreclosure filings in October, had the lowest rate at one for every 40,589 homes.
(Reporting by Hilary Russ, editing by G Crosse)
