Foreclosure Filings Continue to Amaze

While the rise of foreclosures isn't anything new, the percentages continue to amaze... and I fully expect them to get much much worse.

Foreclosure Filings Rose 71% in Third Quarter as Prices Fell: “U.S. foreclosure filings increased 71 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier to the highest on record as home prices fell and stricter mortgage standards made it harder for homeowners to sell or refinance, RealtyTrac said.

"A new law in California, which accounted for 27 percent of the foreclosure filings in the third quarter, helped slow the process in September as notices of default dropped 51 percent compared with the previous month, RealtyTrac said. In North Carolina, default notices fell 66 percent last month after lawmakers required lenders to give homeowners an additional 45- day notice."

A total of 765,558 U.S. properties got a default notice, were warned of a pending auction or were foreclosed on in the quarter, the most since records began in January 2005, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said in a statement today. Filings rose 3 percent from the second quarter and fell 12 percent in September from August as state laws created to keep people in homes slowed the pace of defaults.”

To keep an eye on the foreclosure trend I drop by the Countrywide Foreclosures Blog at least a couple times a month. The above chart is from that site. The site lists the homes for sale on the Countrywide Financial website. If anything, these numbers are on the low side as the company is probably under reporting and both unwilling and unable to keep pace with the foreclosure rate.

Reported by The Financial Ninja.