WASHINGTON (AFP) — US home foreclosure activity fell 12 percent in September from August, after two consecutive months of increases in a severe housing slump, a private research group said Thursday.
But on a 12-month basis, foreclosure filings, including default, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, spiked 21 percent higher, the California-based research group RealtyTrac said.
The bulk of the monthly decline was due to states' efforts to slow the pace of foreclosures in a bid to give distressed borrowers more time to refinance their mortgages, RealtyTrac said.
Spiking foreclosures on subprime mortgages, given to people with patchy credit, and on adjustable rate mortgages that reset to higher interest rates, have deepened the downturn in the US housing market.
Vacant, foreclosed homes drive down neighborhood property values in a vicious downward spiral.
In August, foreclosure activity rose 12 percent and were 27 percent higher than in August 2007.
"Much of the 12 percent decrease in September can be attributed to changes in state laws that have at least temporarily slowed down the pace at which lenders are moving forward with foreclosures," James Saccacio, RealtyTrac chief executive, said in a statement.
Saccacio cited a new law in California which took effect in early September that led to a 51 percent drop in mortgage default notices from the prior month.
However, California remained the third hardest-hit state in the collapsed real estate sector, after Nevada and Florida.
Nevada led the country's foreclosure rates with an 11 percent jump in September from the previous month, to a rate of one in every 82 housing units, more than five times the national average.
Florida leaped two rankings higher to the number two spot with a 9.0 percent month-over-month jump.
California foreclosure filings fell 32 percent on a monthly basis but were up 36 percent from a year ago.
In the third quarter, 765,558 homes were involved in foreclosure activities, marking a 3.0 percent rise from the second quarter and a surge of 71 percent from the 2007 third quarter.
California, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Michigan and Nevada represented 60 percent of US foreclosure activity in the July-September period.
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