Foreclosures Up Year over Year, Decline vs October

Irvine, CA, December 19, 2007--The number of foreclosure filings surged 68 percent nationwide compared with the same month a year ago, according RealtyTrac.

A total of 201,950 foreclosure filings were reported in November, compared to 120,334 in November 2006.

However, there was some good news. November's filings were down 10 percent from October's total of 224,451.

The U.S. had one foreclosure filing for every 617 households in November, RealtyTrac said.

The filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

The decline in filings from October to November likely corresponds with a lull in adjustable-rate mortgage resets, RealtyTrac said. About $500 billion in adjustable-rate mortgages, or about 2 million mortgages, are due to reset at higher levels in 2008, which could give a clearer picture of the industry.

A significant number of rate resets has fueled mortgage defaults in the last few months.

Nevada, Florida and Ohio had the highest foreclosure filing rates.