Foreclosures fade away

One out of every 1,544 homes in Florida was in foreclosure in September 2017 — making foreclosures three times as rare statewide as they were merely two years ago.

Foreclosures along Florida's Gulf Coast are most common in the bedroom communities of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, according to recent data from RealtyTrac. While the rates in Hillsborough and Pinellas are more or less in line with the state trend, foreclosures are slightly more common in nearby Pasco and Polk Counties.

In Charlotte County, foreclosures are even rarer, at just one per 3,084 homes. And Lee County, a foreclosure frontrunner in the late-2000s bust, the rate has dropped to one per 2,134 homes.

The trend in RealtyTrac's data is supported by the recent performance of Florida banks. As of June 30, Florida's banks had just $314 million in other real estate owned on their balance sheets, down from $1.1 billion two years earlier.