Home foreclosure activity up 58% in first six months of 2007

Home foreclosure activity up 58% in first six months of 2007
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press
July 31, 2007


The number of U.S. homes facing foreclosure surged 58 percent in the first six months of the year, the latest sign of mounting problems in the mortgage industry, a data firm said Monday.

In all, 573,397 properties across the nation reported some sort of foreclosure activity in the first half of this year, including receiving notices of default, auction sale notices or being repossessed by lenders, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said.

"We could easily surpass 2 million foreclosure filings by the end of the year, which would represent a year-over-year increase of over 65 percent," said RealtyTrac Chief Executive James Saccacio.

California led the nation in foreclosure filings and the number of homes receiving notices. Some 104,572 properties in the state received notices of default or other foreclosure notices, more than double the year-ago total.

Florida, Ohio, Texas and Michigan ranked second through fifth, respectively, in the highest number of homes receiving foreclosure-related notices, RealtyTrac said.

Notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process, accounted for the largest slice of filings, a total of 416,937.

The national foreclosure rate through the end of June was one filing for every 134 U.S. households, the company said.