From CNN Money:
Foreclosure plague: No cure yet
The housing market is still sick, with a record number of foreclosure filings posted in July.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The foreclosure plague continued to devastate last month. There were more than 360,000 properties with foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — an increase of 7% from June and 32% from July 2008, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed homes. In fact, one in every 355 U.S. homes had at least one filing during July.
“July marks the third time in the last five months where we’ve seen a new record set for foreclosure activity,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Despite continued efforts by the federal government and state governments to patch together a safety net for distressed homeowners, we’re seeing significant growth in both the initial notices of default and in the bank repossessions.”
The jump occurred as several foreclosure moratoriums phased out. They were initiated by many states to give the administration’s foreclosure-prevention efforts time to work. But for many help did not come: The modification and refinancing programs have met with less success than hoped.
I believe this ties in with the comments we have made on foreclosure moratoriums expiring and when seen in conjunction with that CreditSuisse graph on the future of resets in ALTA and POOs. It corroborates the statement that maybe these comments that the “recession” is over is a little premature. (Ruth Lee)
