California Foreclosures Down Slightly in October

In California there were 28,755 notices of default in October and a total of 50,401 foreclosure actions — up 213 percent from the same period last year but down 1.67 percent from the preceding month, according to a report released Thursday.

“Overall foreclosure activity continues to register at a high level compared to last year, but it appears to have leveled off over the past two months after hitting a high for the year in August,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, which issued the report. “Default notices were down nearly 9 percent in October, indicating that 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. On the other hand, bank repossessions were up nearly 35 percent, evidence that more homeowners who enter foreclosure are losing their homes.”

California’s rate of one foreclosure filing for every 258 households still ranked second-highest among the states, second to Florida. The 50,401 foreclosure filings — which included NODs, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — more than triple the number reported in October 2006.

California cities took six of the top 10 spots on the list of highest foreclosure rate for October.

Merced documented the No. 1 foreclosure rate, with one foreclosure filing for every 82 households — 6.7 times the national average. Stockton and Modesto took the second and third spots, Riverside-San Bernardino and Vallejo-Fairfield took the sixth and seventh spots, and Sacramento’s foreclosure rate ranked No. 9.

-East Bay Business Times