Foreclosure activity in the Tampa Bay area jumped almost 20 percent in July from July 2014.
The increase in the bay area and nationally was driven primarily by banks getting final judgments of foreclosure and taking back homes. The rate at which banks are starting new foreclosure cases has dropped, evidence that the foreclosure crisis in nearing an end.
For the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area as a whole, one in every 375 mortgaged homes was in some stage of foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac.
Activity was greatest in Hernando County, where one out of 264 homes was in foreclosure, and lowest in Pinellas, with one out of 450.
Florida had the nation's highest rate of foreclosures for the fifth consecutive month. One in every 408 homes was in some state of foreclosure, more than 2.5 times the national average.
"The increase in overall foreclosure activity over the last five months has been driven primarily by rapidly rising bank repossessions, which in July reached the highest level since January 2013," said Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac's vice president.
"Meanwhile, foreclosure starts in July were at the lowest level since November 2005 — a nearly 10-year low that demonstrates the recent rise in bank repossessions represents banks flushing out old distress rather than new distress being pushed into the pipeline."