Report: Austin ranks high for home

foreclosures

Austin Business Journal - 4:46 PM CDT Wednesday

As home sales continue to heat up in Austin, the area is experiencing another sort of housing increase -- in foreclosures.

According to Irvine, Calif.-based Realty Trac Inc., Austin ranked fifth in the country for foreclosures in the second quarter of 2006. It marked the city's first entrance into the top 10.

Austin had a foreclosure for every 142 households -- more than two-and-a-half times the national average. Austin's rate was a 7 percent increase in foreclosures over the previous quarter.

Dallas ranked third on the list, at more than three times the national average of foreclosures. Houston ranked sixth, at about 2.4 times the national average. San Antonio ranked 10th, with a little more than two times the national average of foreclosures

"Four Texas cities now have foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 ... but the majority of metros we track, along with the national as a whole, reported fewer foreclosures compared to the previous quarter," says James Saccacio, CEO of Realty Trac.