Are housing speculators on the run?

TC Palm.com reports:

Foreclosure paperwork began on 156 homes along the Treasure Coast last month, according to the June RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

In St. Lucie County, 77 homes were in foreclosure proceedings in June, the most on the Treasure Coast. Martin County had 47 properties registered, while the least amount of foreclosures in the tri-county area was in Indian River County with 26.

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Jerry Mabus, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie County, said his region has the highest numbers because more homes were bought in the county than anywhere on the Treasure Coast.

"Some speculators came in with the intent of flipping, but now they are just walking away from them," Mabus said.

Carl Sciara, a broker with Vero Beach-based Sciara & Co. Inc., said foreclosures are low in Indian River County because of the area's affluent buyers.

"I think we're one of the more sought after destinations, with a stronger demographic," Sciara said. "People that buy here can really afford a second or third home."

Treasure Coast homes were among 8,605 properties in Florida that entered a stage of foreclosure in June, the third most of any state nationwide, despite a 3 percent decrease from the previous month and a 12 percent year-over-year decrease from June 2005. The state's foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 849 households ranked eighth highest in the nation and was 1.5 times the national average.

Every year can't be an up year in every real estate market.