Good things often happen in fours:  the Final Four, the Fantastic Four, four seasons, quartets.  An article published today by CNN Money.com points the finger at another four… four states that account for  HALF the foreclosure filings in the United States for 2009.  The states are Arizona, California, Florida, and Illinois and this surprised me because I thought Nevada and Michigan would be on the list before Illinois.

Reading further the filings aren’t the same as actual foreclosures.  The actual number of foreclosures is up by only 1 percent from the previous year.  “Nevada recorded the highest rate of foreclosures, at 10%, followed by Arizona, at 6.1%; Florida, 5.9%; and California, 4.75%.”  The article further states,

RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed homes, reported that one in 45 households — or 2,824,674 properties nationwide — were in default last year. That’s 21% more than in 2008, and more than double 2007’s total.

We are starting to see falling rates of foreclosures in some states, so this gives me hope that the housing market could start a more solid recovery with fewer distress sales on the market.