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Foreclosure activity declined in January from December but was up from January 2009

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A total of 315,716 U.S. homes were mired in the foreclosure process in January, a real estate firm is scheduled to report Thursday, a 10% decline from foreclosure activity measured in December. That number is still 15% above the level of foreclosure activity reported by RealtyTrac in January 2009. The report by the company, which sells foreclosure information to consumers online, shows that one in every 409 U.S. housing units last month received a foreclosure filing -- default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions.

Perhaps the most alarming statistic was that the level of completed foreclosures increased 31% from January 2009, even though they dropped 5% from the previous month.

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The sharp year-over-year increase is a sign that a backlog of defaulting properties may now be entering the foreclosure phase after several national and local moratoriums expired last year and the Obama administration’s efforts to provide mortgage relief for thousands of Americans has failed to make temporarily lowered payments permanent, RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga said.

“The real spike was in bank repossessions,” Sharga said. “And that suggests to me that some of the processing delays that we saw keeping numbers down may be ending.”

Default notices were down 12% from the previous month but were up 4% from January 2009. Scheduled foreclosure auctions were down 11% from the previous month but were up 15% from January 2009.

Six states accounted for nearly 60% of the nation’s foreclosure activity. California, Florida and Arizona posted the three highest state totals in terms of properties receiving foreclosure filings in January. Together those states accounted for more than 44% of the national total, according to RealtyTrac.

Las Vegas documented the highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 82 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, despite a nearly 2% decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month and a nearly 21% decrease in foreclosure activity from January 2009.

Six California cities registered foreclosure rates among the top 10.

Modesto was at No. 3, with one in every 107 housing units; Stockton at No. 4, with one in every 107; the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro area and Merced virtually tied at Nos. 5 and 6, with one in 109; the Vallejo-Fairfield metro area at No. 7, with one in 112; and Bakersfield at No. 8, with one in 118.

Two Florida cities were in the top 10: Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 9, with one in 121; and Orlando-Kissimmee at No. 10, with one in 143.

-- Alejandro Lazo

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