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July Foreclosures Up 9 Percent From
June
By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The number of foreclosure filings
reported in the U.S. last month jumped 93 percent from
July of 2006 and rose 9 percent from June, the latest
sign that homeowners are having trouble making payments
and finding buyers during the national housing downturn.
There were 179,599 foreclosure filings reported during
July, up from 92,845 during the same period a year ago,
Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc. said Tuesday. There were
164,644 foreclosure filings reported in June.
The national foreclosure rate in July was one filing
for every 693 households, the company said.
"While 43 states experienced year-over-year increases
in foreclosure activity, just five states - California,
Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia - accounted for more
than half of the nation's total foreclosure filings," RealtyTrac
Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said.
The filings include default notices, auction sale notices
and bank repossessions.
Some properties included in the survey might have received
more than one notice, if the owners have multiple mortgages.
The company did break out individual properties as part
of its report for the first six months of this year,
when a total of 573,397 properties reported some sort
of foreclosure activity.
That represents a 58 percent jump from the 363,672 properties
in the first six months of 2006 and a 32 percent increase
from the 433,504 in the last six months of 2006, the
firm said.
In the July report, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan accounted
for the highest foreclosure rates nationwide.
Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate: one filing
for every 199 households, or more than three times the
national average. It reported 5,116 filings during the
month, an increase of 8 percent from June.
Georgia's foreclosure rate was more than twice the national
average, with one filing for every 299 households. The
state reported 12,602 foreclosure filings, up 75 percent
from June.
Michigan reported 13,979 filings in July, a 39 percent
spike from June.
California, Florida and Ohio were among the states with
the highest number of foreclosure filings in July, RealtyTrac
said.
California cities continued to dominate top metropolitan
foreclosure rates.
The state reported 39,013 foreclosure filings last month,
the most by any single state. However, the number of
filings rose less than 1 percent from June.
The state's foreclosure rate was one filing for every
333 households, RealtyTrac said.
Florida's foreclosure filings dropped 9 percent between
June and July to 19,179. The July figure, however, represents
a 78 percent jump from the year-ago period.
In recent months, the mortgage industry has been battered
by rising defaults and foreclosures, primarily driven
by borrowers with subprime loans and adjustable rate
mortgages.
Lagging home sales and flat or decreasing home prices
have made it more difficult for homeowners who fall behind
on payments to sell their homes and clear the debt, spurring
the rise in foreclosure activity.
Loan types seeing higher delinquencies and defaults
in general are home equity loans or second mortgages
used to cover a downpayment, subprime loans to people
with shaky credit histories, and Alt-A loans, which can
include interest-only and adjustable rate mortgages sold
with little or no documentation.
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