Florida Foreclosures Drop 17-Percent In 3rd Quarter

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - Florida ranks number two in the nation, behind New Jersey, for the number of foreclosures in the last year.

The good news is the state's foreclosure activity declined 17 percent.

The research firm Realty Trac said Thursday that 1 in every 186 homes in Florida had a foreclosure filing in the third quarter of this year.

Realty Trac says foreclosure starts in Florida were down 28 percent from a year ago, and scheduled foreclosure auctions were down 46 percent year-over-year.

But banks repossessions in Florida increased by more than a third from a year ago.