California Foreclosures Hit Record

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Sinking home values and the collapse of flimsy mortgages fueled a record number of foreclosures in California in the first three months of this year, dimming prospects for any quick recovery in the housing market, the Los Angeles Times reports.


The number of homes lost to foreclosure rose to a record 47,171, more than four times as many as a year earlier.


Default notices — the first step toward foreclosure — were sent to owners of 110,000 California homes from Jan. 1 to March 31, according to La Jolla- based DataQuick Information Systems. That’s about 1.4% of the homes in the state.


Defaults are up 143% from the same period last year. Homeowners in default can avoid foreclosure by catching up on payments, refinancing or selling. But fewer are doing so.


Just 32% of the properties in default will avoid foreclosure, DataQuick estimates, down from 52% a year ago.


That decline reflects the slow real estate market, which is being further weakened by the flood of bargain-priced foreclosures coming on the market, real estate experts say.


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