Foreclosures drop in South Florida metro area

Florida cities are still featured prominently on the Top 10 list of foreclosure rates nationwide, but the rates are dropping, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based online real estate marketplace. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metro area ranked No. 15 out of 203 markets, with 53,710 properties receiving foreclosure filings during the quarter, or the equivalent of one in every 45 units. That marked a 5.2 percent drop from the preceding quarter, though foreclosure filings are still up 34.6 percent from the year-ago quarter. The Cape Coral-Fort Meyers area ranked third on the list of cities with the highest rates of foreclosure. Port St. Lucie came in at 10th, and Orlando was 11th. The Nevada and California metro areas rounded out the rest of the top 10.