Arizona's foreclosures dropped 11% last year. That puts the state fifth lowest in the nation. The new numbers don't account for Arizonans forced to leave rentals.

Arizona's low foreclosure numbers indicate that homeowners can still sell their house when they need to get out, said Mark Stapp, director of Real Estate Programs at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. 

He also says the real measure of affordability or lack thereof is evictions from rental property.

"If you own your home and your wages increase only slightly or stay the same, your mortgage doesn't change, likely, but rents keep going up. And so you continually have to move or find yourself using more of your disposable income for housing," he said.

The year-end report from ATTOM Data Solutions shows Arizona as one of five states with the least foreclosure filings. But the numbers do not include evictions — Arizona residents forced to leave their rental properties because of rising costs.

ATTOM Data Solutions shows foreclosure filings nationally are down 37% from just a year ago and down 84% from the peak in 2009.

Loading...