[Source: Maurna Desmond, Forbes] — Rising unemployment is delivering another blow to the depressed U.S. housing market. After months of declines in the number of foreclosures despite rising mortgage defaults, with a barricade of state and lender moratoriums preventing repossessions, foreclosures rose 6% in February from the month before, with 209,631 filings in all, according to Irvine, Calif.-based data firm RealtyTrac. Compared to the corresponding month a year ago, foreclosures were up 30%…
Coming in at #3 is Arizona where high vacancy rates in overbuilt areas continue to plague this sunny state:
- Pre-foreclosures and foreclosures, February 2009: 18,119
- Rank, housing units per foreclosure: 147
- Rank, housing units per foreclosure: No. 2
- Rate, change from February 2008: 88%
- Unemployment rate, January 2009: 7%
- One-month increase (from December 2008): 0.4 points
- One-year increase (from January 2008): 2.6
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Downtown Voices Coalition 