Closer to 'Reality' in Arizona

Bullhead City Lake Havasu City Real Estate

Closer to 'Reality' in Arizona

But while the widespread legal delays may mask the underlying problems facing the housing market, Blomquist said that foreclosures would have fallen in 2011 regardless -- just not so dramatically.

For a sense of what the road to recovery really looks like, Blomquist offered Arizona, another state suffering from high foreclosure rates, albeit under different circumstances than Florida.

Foreclosures are down there, too, but as a non-judicial state, Arizona has been far more expedient in getting distressed properties on the market and out of the courts. The average foreclosure process in Arizona takes 173 days, far below the national average of 348.

Not surprisingly, Florida is "ground zero for dysfunctional foreclosure processes," Blomquist said. While there has been almost a 63 percent decrease in foreclosure activity over the last year in the hard-hit state, he said that the time it takes to complete the process has gone up 48 percent in the same time period. From start to finish, he said, foreclosures take an average of 806 days in the Sunshine State -- the national average is 348.

December marked a 49-month low for monthly foreclosure activity nationwide. The state with the longest foreclosure processing time by far is New York, with an average of 1,019 days to completion in the fourth quarter. New Jersey and Florida rounded out the top three with 964 days and 806 days, respectively.