U.S. April Foreclosure Filings More Than Double Over Last Yr

[deejayoh]

By Bob Ivry

May 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. homeowners entered the foreclosure process in April at more than double the rate of a year ago as tightening credit made it more difficult to refinance and a swelling supply of unsold homes made it tough to sell.

The number of homeowners in all three phases of foreclosure rose last month over the same period a year ago, according to Sacramento-based Foreclosures.com, which gathers data from county courthouses nationwide. Those receiving their first notice of foreclosure from a bank climbed 127 percent, those with homes going up for sale by auction jumped 164 percent and those whose homes were repossessed by banks went up 40 percent.

Eight of 10 subprime loans, given to borrowers with bad or limited credit histories, adjust over time to higher interest rates and many homeowners can no longer afford their mortgages. With existing home sales at a four-year low, it's more difficult to sell because there are so many homes on the market.

``The housing boom was a house of cards,'' said Alexis McGee, president of Foreclosures.com. ``A lot of people who are living beyond their means and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul find that it's starting to catch up with them. We're seeing the effects of aggressive lending and minimal standards for underwriting.''

In the first four months of this year, homes in all three phases of the foreclosure process increased from the same period a year ago, Foreclosures.com said. Notices of default and auctions more than doubled, while bank takeovers, or REOs for ``real estate owned,'' rose 39 percent.

[deejayoh]

I just saw this on bubbletracking.com and posted this on the blog too, but figured it was worth the double post.

Using foreclosure.com as the source, foreclosure figures are listed first, pre-foreclosures are listed next, with the % of pre-foreclosures moving forward to foreclosures in parentheses.

Seattle Metro/King-Snohomish Counties
10/31/06: 195/2,165 (9.0%)
11/30/06: 126/2,376 (5.3%)
12/30/06: 131/1,500 (8.7%)
01/30/07: 146/1,548 (9.4%)
02/27/07: 124/1,503 (8.3%)
03/30/07: 251/1,466 (17.1%)
04/30/07: 511/1,566 (32.6%)

Versus six months ago - it looks like preforeclosures are 3x as likely to end up in a foreclosure, which are up 250%.