Foreclosures in Pasadena down, but up as percentage of housing market

When it comes to foreclosures in Pasadena, there's good news and bad news.

The good news is that the number of foreclosures in 2010 fell to 191 from 194 in the previous year, according to real estate intelligence website Blockshopper.com. That's the lowest number since 2006, when just 133 homes went into foreclosure.

But the bad news is that the city's foreclosure rate continues to climb. It has now reached 15.4 percent, which is higher than any point in the past decade. That means that 15.4 percent of homes on the market are foreclosure sales.

That rate is significantly higher than Pasadena's neighbor Deer Park, which suffered an 8.45 percent rate this year with 29 homes in foreclosure.

However, nearby La Porte's foreclosure rate has jumped to similar levels. In that city, there were 55 new foreclosures in 2010 and the foreclosure rate is now 15.76 percent.

According to real estate website RealtyTrac, there are 82,823 foreclosures throughout the state of Texas. One in every 718 homes in the state is in foreclosure. In Harris County, there are 18,861 foreclosed homes, or one in every 546 units.