http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080514/foreclosure_rates.html

US foreclosure filings surge 65 percent in April
Wednesday May 14, 9:42 am ET
By Alex Veiga, AP Business Writer

Late payments drive number of US homes facing foreclosure in April up
65 percent from year ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- More U.S. homeowners fell behind on mortgage
payments last month, driving the number of homes facing foreclosure up
65 percent versus the same month last year and contributing to a
deepening slide in home values, a research company said Tuesday.
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Nationwide, 243,353 homes received at least one foreclosure-related
filing in April, up 65 percent from 147,708 in the same month last
year and up 4 percent since March, RealtyTrac Inc. said.
Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida were among the hardest hit
states, with metropolitan areas in California and Florida accounting
for nine of the top 10 areas with the highest rate of foreclosure, the
company said.
Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale
notices and bank repossessions.
One in every 519 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in
April. Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but
eight states.
The combination of weak housing sales, falling home values, tighter
mortgage lending criteria and a slowing U.S. economy has left
financially strapped homeowners with fewer options to avoid
foreclosure. Many can't find buyers or owe more than their home is
worth and can't get refinanced into an affordable loan.
Efforts by government and the mortgage industry to stem the tide of
foreclosures aren't keeping up with the rising number of troubled
homeowners.
The April data show nearly half of the properties received an initial
notice of default, suggesting many homes were new entrants to the
foreclosure process.
"We're still sitting at roughly the same percentage of loans handled
in any way successfully as we were a year ago, and the volume (of
foreclosure filings) still keeps going up," said Rick Sharga,
RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing. "It's apparent that what
they've tried so far isn't working."
The U.S. House passed a bill last week that would offer government
insurance on $300 billion in new mortgages to refinance loans for an
estimated half-million borrowers facing foreclosure, particularly
those who now owe more than their houses are worth because of
declining values.
House lawmakers also passed a bill that would send $15 billion to
states to buy and fix foreclosed homes.
Still, should the homeowner aid package clear the Senate, it faces a
potential hurdle in the White House, which has threatened to veto the
plan, arguing it's too risky and amounts to a lender bailout.
Even if a legislative compromise is reached, it could come too late
for homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages scheduled to reset to
higher rates this month and the next.
More than 1 million home foreclosures are forecast for 2008.
"It doesn't look like the volume is going to slow down any time soon,"
Sharga said.
More than 54,500 properties were repossessed by lenders nationwide in
April. In all, about 2 percent of U.S. households were in some stage
of foreclosure during the month, RealtyTrac said.
Still, as foreclosed properties pile up, they add to the inventory of
homes on the market and can drag down home prices. The impact is felt
mostly in regions where foreclosures are concentrated, such as
Southern California, the Las Vegas area, South Florida and parts of
Arizona.
Nevada posted the worst foreclosure rate in the nation, with one in
every 146 households receiving a foreclosure-related notice last
month, nearly four times the national rate.
The number of properties with a filing jumped 95 percent versus April
last year but declined 5 percent from March.
California had the most properties facing foreclosure at 64,683, an
increase of 112 percent from April 2007. The number of properties
declined less than 1 percent from March.
The state posted the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country,
with one in every 204 households receiving a foreclosure-related
notice.
California metro areas accounted for six of the 10 U.S. metropolitan
areas with the highest foreclosure rates, led by Merced, with one in
every 66 households receiving a foreclosure notice.
Arizona had the third-highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 224
households reporting a foreclosure filing in April. A total of 11,620
homes reported at least one filing, up nearly 181 percent from a year
earlier and up 26 percent from the previous month.
Like Las Vegas and inland regions in California, areas of Arizona saw
a sharp run-up in speculator-driven home prices and new home
construction during the housing boom.
Florida had 35,264 homes reporting at least one foreclosure filing
last month, a 146 percent jump from a year earlier and a 17 percent
hike from March. That translates into a foreclosure rate of one in
every 242 households, the fourth-highest in the nation.
The other states among the 10 with the highest foreclosure rates in
April were Colorado, Maryland, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan and
Massachusetts.
RealtyTrac Inc.: http://www.realtytrac.com