Business

July 26, 2008

Foreclosures soar as housing troubles continue across America

The regional rate is up but is nowhere near as severe as in most other markets.

J.W. ELPHINSTONE AP Business Writer

NEW YORK — The number of households facing the foreclosure process more than doubled in the second quarter compared to a year ago, according to data released Friday.

Nationwide, 739,714 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice during the quarter, or one in every 171 U.S. households, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said. That’s up 121 percent from the second quarter of 2007.

Foreclosure action rose sharply in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton region as well, but the rate of one in 715 homes receiving a notice ranked the region near the bottom of the top 100 metropolitan areas. The rate increased 57 percent compared to 2007 but more than doubled from the first quarter of this year.

With one in every 524 homes in some state of foreclosure, Pennsylvania ranked 31st among the 50 states.

Soft housing sales, declining home values, tighter lending standards and a sluggish U.S. economy have left strapped homeowners with few options to avoid foreclosure. Many can’t find buyers or owe more than their home is worth and can’t refinance into an affordable loan.

Foreclosure filings increased year-over-year in all but two states, North Dakota and Alabama.

Nevada, California, Arizona, and Florida continued to clock in the highest foreclosure rates. One in every 43 Nevada households received a filing during the quarter.

Cities in California and Florida accounted for 16 of the worst 20 metro foreclosure rates. Stockton, Calif., had the worst rate, with one in every 25 homes in the town receiving a foreclosure filing. That’s nearly seven times the national average.

RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. Banks took back more than 222,000 properties nationwide in the second quarter, the company said. Bank repossessions accounted for 30 percent of total foreclosure activity, up from 24 percent in the previous quarter.

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