South Florida is one of the Major Metro Areas with the Highest Foreclosure Rate

South Florida still ranks 6^th among the major metro areas in the United States to have been identified with the highest foreclosure rate even though foreclosure activities have dwindled over the last year.  According to a report made by RealtyTrac that analyzed data from the first 6 months of 2015, about one in every 87 homes in the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties gets foreclosed.  In spite of that data, the housing market is so far recovering.  Over the last year new foreclosure filings in the South Florida fell by thirty percent which is a great improvement for the country

Kwame Donaldson, an economist at Moody's Analytics said in a statement, "We've seen this trend for a while now.  South Florida is a place where the economic recovery is still happening. I wouldn't expect foreclosure activity to increase in South Florida for as long as the economy improves."

Donaldson also added that the reason why local rates are sky high is due to the fact that in Florida, a judge needs to sign off on each case, which slows down the rate that each foreclosure can more through the system. Twenty states use only the court system to handle foreclosure instead of the local sheriff and trustees.

On the other hand Michael Pappas, the president and CEO of the Keyes Company which is a local real estate firm says, "The tide of the distress has been going back out to sea. If you're a buyer, it's a lot harder to get a good deal on an REO (Real Estate Owned, property owned by a lender after an unsuccessful foreclosure auction) but you still can.