Foreclosures, Repossessions Continue To Rise

Irvine, CA, July 25, 2008--Roughly 220,000 homes were lost to bank repossessions in the second quarter, according to a housing market report Friday issued by RealtyTrac.

That's almost three times the number from the same period in 2007.

A total of 739,714 foreclosure filings were recorded during the quarter, up 14 percent from the first quarter, and 121 percent from the same period in 2007. That means that one of every 171 U.S. households received a filing, which include notices of default, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

"Most areas of the country are seeing at least some increase in foreclosure activity," said James Saccadic, CEO of RealtyTrac.

"Forty-eight of 50 states and 95 out of the nation's 100 largest metro areas experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity."

Because foreclosure filings are growing so quickly, RealtyTrac will have to reevaluate its foreclosure forecast for the year, said spokesman Rick Sharga.

"We've been saying foreclosures will total 1.9 million to 2 million this year," he said. "But midway through the year, we're already at 1.4 million so we're going to be raising our projections."

Also, bank repossessions are up as a proportion of total filings, representing 30 percent of the notices issued during the quarter, up from 24 percent a year ago.