Another Foreclosure Map Hits the Web

What do the Federal Reserve and real-estate Web site HotPads have in common? Both have ginned up online maps in recent weeks to track the mortgage maps. The Fed’s map, released last week, illustrates subprime loan conditions across the U.S. Hotpads.com offers similar heat maps, and uses them to showcase listings of foreclosed homes.

The site uses foreclosure data from RealtyTrac.com to give a virtual picture of foreclosure rates across the U.S. by county and state. The map is color-coded — light blue represents the lowest rate of foreclosure per capita (1 in 160,000); deep red, the highest (1 in 150).

To get started, you could look at an overview of the U.S., or type in the name of a city, state or address. Looking at the overview, it’s easy to get a quick picture of some of the worst foreclosure-hit areas in the nation — with California, Arizona, Florida and Colorado among the states shaded in dark red. North Dakota — is the only state shaded in light blue.

But if you zoom in on even some of the more foreclosure-prone areas, you will find spots that appear to be avoiding the foreclosure heat. Take Florida, for instance. Zoom in closer and you’ll see that much of the north-central section of the state is showing relatively low rates of foreclosure, while rates are at the high end in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Readers: What does the heat map show for your area? Any surprises? — Lauren Baier Kim