he number of U.S. properties in foreclosure climbed 87 percent last month from a year earlier as home prices fell and lending standards tightened, making it harder for borrowers to sell homes and refinance mortgages.
There were 164,644 loan default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions in June, led by filings in California, Florida, Ohio and Michigan that together accounted for half the total, according to RealtyTrac, a seller of foreclosure data.
The June foreclosure figure was 7 percent lower than in May, when filings reached a 30-month high, Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac said today. ``Still, rates in most states remained substantially above last year's levels,'' James Saccacio, the company's chief executive officer, said in the statement.
Recent housing news has been incredibly bearish. Two ratings agencies have announced a downgrade of CDO/CLO deals. Homebuilders have announced lower earnings, higher cancellation rates and stated the current environment is difficult. Now we learn that while forclosures decreased from last month, they are still far higher than last year. It's also important to remember foreclosures are coming off of record lows, so they really only have one way to -- namely, up.
