Home foreclosures in Los Angeles County in November rose 69 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to a new report from RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine-based seller of foreclosure data.
The news could have been worse. L.A. County ranked in the middle of the pack No. 27 among California counties last month with 1 in every 296 households in foreclosure, according to RealtyTrac. That’s 6 percent higher than in October.
The statewide rate for California was 1 in 218 homes receiving a notice, 51 percent worse than a year earlier and also 6 percent worse than in October. Nationwide, the rate was down 7 percent from October, with more than 259,000 homes receiving at least one foreclosure-related notice in November, the lowest rate since June.
New laws extending the foreclosure process in some states, along with better loan modification programs and self-imposed foreclosure moratoriums by some lenders, have helped slow the rate of increase, but RealtyTrac forecasters expect higher unemployment rates will cause rates to pick up by January.
Chief Executive James Saccacio noted that delinquencies on loans not yet in the foreclosure process jumped to nearly 7 percent in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
In addition, the Business Journal this week reported L.A. County’s median price fell 31 percent last month to $360,000, according to Melville, N.Y.-based HomeData Corp.
“There are several indications that this lower activity is simply a temporary lull before another foreclosure storm hits in the coming months,” Saccacio said.
Orange County ranked 32nd in the state last month with 1 in 362 homes in foreclosure, 66 percent worse than a year ago. Coming in at 25th, Ventura County’s rate was 131 percent worse than a year ago, with 1 in 275 homes receiving a foreclosure filing.
On RealtyTrac’s list of the top 10 worse metro areas in the nation, six were in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire. The highest of those was Merced at No. 3, with one in every 76 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. Closer to home, Riverside-San Bernardino was at No. 6, with one in every 107 housing units receiving a notice.
