The number of foreclosures have jumped 29 percent in Southern California since January 2006, according to Default Research, a real estate research company based in Pennsylvania.
Riverside had the highest increase of 56.5 percent, followed by San Diego County at 49 percent and Los Angeles at 16.2 percent.
“The real estate bubble continues to deflate in Southern California,” said Serdar Bankaci, president and CEO of Default Research Inc., in a statement. “This is not surprising at all because home prices are leveling off.”
About 76 percent of the foreclosure activity involved single-family homes, while 12 percent were condominiums and 4 percent were duplexes and triplexes, the company reported.
Job growth in May was the lowest it had been since October 2005, Bankaci also noted. “Combine that statistic with the rising interest rates, and you see that the average family suffered financially two times, putting a tremendous strain on families already stretched to the max.”
Default Research was founded in January 2004. The company offers pre-foreclosure information to clients, including home buyers, real estate investors, agents, lenders and consumer credit counseling services. The company tracks pre-foreclosure documents including notice of default, notice of trustee sale and lis pendens that are recorded at county clerks’ offices.
