New York's Inventory Of Foreclosed Homes Spiked In Q1

The housing market in the Northeast has been one of the slowest to recover. And now we have another worrisome indicator.

New York posted a nearly 130 percent year-over-year surge in foreclosure inventory in the first quarter, according to RealtyTrac's latest report. This compares with a nine percent rise in overall U.S. foreclosure inventory.

The rise has been attributed in part to New York's judicial foreclosure process that can last 445 days (15 months).

At 15,212, New York was the fifth largest zombie foreclosure state, in which the owner had vacated the home and moved.

This chart shows the 10 states with the biggest increases in overall foreclosure inventory:

Moreover, in New York both listed and unlisted foreclosure inventory were up. The former was driven entirely by an increase in pre-foreclosure sales. Meanwhile, New York's unlisted foreclosure inventory (where homes are not listed for sale) jumped 129 percent on the year.