Syracuse Sixth-Lowest Forceclosure Rate of the 100 Top U.S. Cities

Sunday, November 18, 2007 – Syracuse.com

The foreclosure rate in Syracuse remains low by national standards, but higher than it was a couple of years ago.

During the three months that ended Sept. 30, there were 249 foreclosure documents filed in the three counties of the Syracuse metro area - Onondaga, Madison and Oswego - according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties. That's one foreclosure filing for every 1,139 households in the area, giving Syracuse the sixth-lowest foreclosure rate of the 100 top U.S. cities and the lowest rate among cities in New York. The Albany region was next lowest in New York, with one in 836 homes in foreclosure.

The city with the worst foreclosure rate - Stockton, Calif. - had one in 31 homes in foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac.

According to county-by-county data supplied to The Post-Standard by RealtyTrac, there were 568 foreclosure filings in Onondaga County during the first nine months of 2007. That's down slightly from 597 filings during the first nine months of 2006, but way up from 168 filings during the same period in 2005. 

The trend varies by county: Cayuga County showed improvement this year, with 34 filings through September 2007, compared with 79 in 2006 and 28 in 2005. Madison County has had only nine filings in 2007, compared with 37 in 2006 and 31 in 2005. Oswego County's filings rose to 113 this year, compared with 30 last year and 47 in 2005.