Foreclosures Fall Slightly in February

Irvine, CA, March 13, 2008—Foreclosures fell 4 percent in February from January, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

However, the February rate was almost 60 percent higher than the same month a year ago.

A total of 223,651 received at least one notice from lenders last month related to overdue payments, up 59.8 percent from 139,922 the previous year.

Nearly half of the homes on the most recent list had slipped into default for the first time.

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate, and 6,167 properties were facing foreclosure.

Most of the foreclosure problems were located in California, Florida, Texas, Michigan and Ohio

The overall foreclosure rate in February was one filing for every 557 homes.

RealtyTrac believes the February drop was a one-month phenomenon.

"We seem to be settling in at a new plateau in terms of monthly activity, but it's a much higher plateau than we were at a year ago," he said.

RealtyTrac said the number of foreclosed properties that didn't sell at auction and ended up going back to lenders rose more than 110 percent last month compared to a year ago.