Inman

Data publisher sees rising foreclosure activity

Real estate foreclosure activity has edged up in California, New Jersey and in the Las Vegas area of Nevada at the end of the third quarter, according to data from Foreclosures.com, a Fair Oaks, Calif.-based real estate information publisher and investment advisor.

“We saw increases in defaults month to month at the end of the third quarter in eight of 13 northern California counties that we cover…and in four of five southern California counties,” said Foreclosures.com president Alexis McGee.

McGee cited a steady rise in mortgage interest rates, flattening of home-price-appreciation levels and the increased use of high risk loans for expensive homes as factors putting homeowners at risk of possible foreclosure.

She added, “We’re seeing flat appreciation in San Francisco, and even a slight decline in prices. In Orange County, prices dropped $4,000 in October, for the second consecutive month. Defaults at the end of the third quarter reached 1,000 versus 582 in the third quarter of 2004. That’s almost a 42 percent increase.”

Meanwhile, new foreclosure filings in Clark County, Nev., increased to 1,743 in the third quarter from 1,498 in the second quarter, according to Foreclosures.com data.

And new filings of foreclosure cases in New Jersey started to creep up to 3,668 at the end of the third quarter from 3,228 in the second quarter, the company said.

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