The numbers of foreclosure filings have gone down in May when compared to the April figures, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Don't get too excited though, the unemployment rate is still on the rise! Experts anticipate that the unemployment rate will reach a nationwide 10% by the end of the year. As more Americans lose their jobs, the threat of losing their homes becomes a true reality.

According to the National Association of Realtors, nearly 45% of the real estate sales in April were distressed properties. 1 out of 148 homes in the State of Florida received a foreclosure filing during the month of April alone. This is actually a decline resulting in the state being kicked of the #2 spot for the Nations highest foreclosure rate by state and replaced with California!

In the Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County, Florida area, home sales in May were the highest that they have been in nearly two years and almost half of those sales were distressed properties. Foreclosures in the area just keep lingering, currently between 9 and 12% of our local homeowners are at least 90 days behind on their mortgages.

With the mortgage rates and the unemployment rates both rising, the baby steps that the real estate market has been making towards stabilization could either take a tumble or stay at the same median price that they are at now for some time. Economists are predicting and "L" shaped recovery, which is to say that once the prices have reached rock bottom they could stay that way for a number of years.