Foreclosures Continued To Climb in July

Irvine, CA, Aug. 14, 2008--Foreclosure filings grew by more than 50 percent compared with the same month a year ago, according to data released by RealtyTrac Inc.

Nationally, more than 272,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in July, up 55 percent from roughly 175,000 in the same month last year and up 8 percent from June.

More than 77,000 properties were repossessed by lenders in July.

Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Georgia and Michigan had the highest foreclosure rates. filings rose from a year earlier in all but eight states.

Slow housing sales, along with falling home values, tighter mortgage lending criteria and a slowing U.S. economy have left financially strapped homeowners with few options to avoid foreclosure.

As foreclosures soar, banks and mortgage investors are also facing a pileup of foreclosed properties on their books and are cutting prices dramatically.

RealtyTrac said it had more than 750,000 foreclosed homes in its database of properties for sale, equal to about 17 percent of the 4.5 million U.S. homes that were up for sale in June.

The number of foreclosures could start to stabilize as early as the first quarter of next year if the government housing stimulus program gains any traction, said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president for marketing. "That's really the unknowable right now."