After leading the nation in foreclosures for years, Nevada can be proud of not taking home first place in that category in May.
RealtyTrac released the foreclosure numbers for May, and Nevada dropped two places. The Silver State is coming off of a 62-month streak of having the most foreclosures in the nation, which ended with a second-place ranking in March. But then in April, Nevada took first place again, bringing about concerns that our housing market might not be recovering.
But some good news Thursday, with a new set of rankings. Nevada came in third, after Georgia in first place, and Arizona in second. California and Illinois followed in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
In May, one in every 313 Nevada homes filed for foreclosure, which is down 66 percent from 2011.
Experts say the numbers don't show skyrocketing improvement, but they do show a slow, steady, positive direction for the market.
"[The market] will feed itself," Reno-Sparks Association of Realtors President Kevin Sigstad said. "It just isn't necessarily going to be this big steep climb that we've seen before. But [there are] a lot of good signs. A lot of really good signs."
Sigstad said Nevada is following the national trend of modest improvement, and the Reno-Sparks area is following suit as well. He said the small uptick is partially due to new legislation for Nevada and the legal settlement with the five largest national banks. That, plus improvement in other economic areas, is helping to stabilize the market.
"Currently we are headed into more of a normal market with less foreclosures, less short sales, and more normal signs," Sigstad said.
Sigstad also pointed out that all foreclosures aren't necessarily indicative of an economic downturn. He said a steady number of foreclosures is necessary, and a sign of a healthy, functioning housing market.
Written by Arianna Bennett
