Foreclosure filings for October rose 2% from September and 94% from a year earlier, but foreclosure activity in general appears to have "leveled off" since peaking in August, a foreclosure-listing service said.
According to RealtyTrac Inc., default notices for October dropped nearly 9% from a year ago. "Some of the efforts on the part of homeowners, lenders and advocacy groups to find alternatives to foreclosure may be starting to have an impact," said RealtyTrac Chief Executive James J. Saccacio. He added, however, that bank repossessions during the month jumped nearly 35% -- "evidence that more homeowners who enter foreclosure are losing their homes."
RealtyTrac, Irvine, Calif., said 224,451 foreclosure filings were reported in October, compared with 219,850 in September and 115,568 a year ago. Nationally, there was one filing for every 555 households during the latest month as credit pressures and tumbling home values continued to hurt homeowners. By contrast, there was one filing for every 566 households in September and one for every 1,001 households in October 2006.
California had six of the 10 cities with the highest U.S. foreclosure rates for October, RealtyTrac said. Merced, Calif., chalked up the nation's highest foreclosure rate, with one filing for every 82 households, or 6.7 times the national average. Other California cities held the second, third, sixth, seventh and ninth spots. Las Vegas was fourth, Detroit fifth, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., eighth, and Cleveland 10th.
Nevada posted the nation's highest foreclosure rate for a state -- one filing for every 154 households. California, Florida and Ohio had the nation's highest foreclosure totals.
Higher interest rates and weaker home values have hit many homeowners hard, especially those with higher-risk subprime mortgages. Lenders, in turn, have tightened standards, making it tougher for individuals and companies to obtain credit.
Two weeks ago, RealtyTrac said third-quarter foreclosure filings surged 30% nationally from the second quarter and nearly doubled from a year earlier, with one foreclosure filing for every 196 U.S. households. At the time, Saccacio said that, "given the number of loans due to reset through the middle of 2008, and the continuing weakness in home sales, we would expect foreclosure activity to remain high and even increase over the next year in many markets."
