Spokane County foreclosures rise; Kootenai County down

Foreclosure filings on Spokane County homes rose to 252 in April, the highest number since October, RealtyTrac reported today.

Banks took ownership of 84 homes and issued notices of foreclosure sales on 168 more, the online foreclosure-sale company said.

The total was an almost 20 percent increase over March, and almost 53 percent over April a year ago.

One out of every 791 homes in Spokane County was subject to foreclosure or notice, compared with one out of 715 homes for all of Washington. The higher the number, the better.

Washington’s foreclosure rate ranked 20th among the states, compared to fifth for Idaho, where one in every 325 homes was taken back by the lender or subject to a notice of default.

The rate in Kootenai County was one in every 327 homes.

But the Idaho and Kootenai County numbers were improvements on those for March, and from April 2010.

Nevada’s foreclosure rate remained the nation’s highest for the 52nd straight month. Arizona, California and Utah, in that order, filled in the other top five positions. Vermont, with only five homes involved in a foreclosure action, remained the state with the lowest rate.

Bert Caldwell