Foreclosures rose in Va., Md. and D.C.

Foreclosures rose in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. in April but still accounted for less than 4 percent of the total nationwide, according to the latest survey by RealtyTrac Inc. Virginia foreclosures increased 19 percent to 7,065, while Maryland foreclosures rose 3 percent to 5,446. D.C. foreclosures jumped 64 percent to 256, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure research company. Nationally, there were 333,837 foreclosures in April, a 9 percent decline from the month before. Defaults in D.C., Maryland and Virginia accounted for 3.8 percent of the national total.

In the Washington area there were 5,005 foreclosures and Prince George's County was the hardest hit with 1,373, according to RealtyTrac. Fairfax County had 959 foreclosures; Prince William County had 792; and Montgomery County had 649. The number of foreclosures falls off after those big jurisdictions. Loudoun County had 337; Frederick County had 287; City of Manassas had 96; Arlington County had 87, and Alexandria had 81. Fairfax City had 35 foreclsoures in April, Fredericksburg had 29, and Falls Church had just 4. The bulk of the national foreclosure burden continues to be on a few states. California had 69,725 and Florida had 48,384 foreclosures last month accounting for 35 percent of the nation’s total. Michigan, Illinois and Nevada added another 54,260 foreclosures to the national total, meaning five states accounted for more than 50 percent of foreclosures in the U.S. SOURCE: Washington Business Journal