Foreclosures, U.S.

Foreclosure filings jump 24%

March and first-quarter total filings were the highest monthly and quarterly totals on record. Repossessions fall 3%.

By Julianne Pepitone, CNN
April 16, 2009

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Foreclosures skyrocketed in March and the first quarter of 2008 to their highest levels on record as banks lifted moratoria on filings.

Foreclosure filings - which include default papers, auction sale notices and repossessions - reached 803,489 in the first quarter, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac, on online marketer of foreclosed properties. That is a 24% jump over a year earlier and a 9% increase compared to the previous quarter.
The March and first quarter were the highest monthly and quarterly totals since RealtyTrac began reporting in January 2005.

"In the month of March we saw a record level of foreclosure activity - the number of households that received a foreclosure filing was more than 12% higher than the next highest month on record," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a prepared statement.

Foreclosures have hit the economy hard. Housing prices have plummeted and some homeowners are severely underwater - meaning they owe more than their homes are worth. That can remove the incentive to keep up with mortgage payments.

Amid mass layoffs and pay cuts, soaring unemployment is a bigger reason for missed mortgage payments than high interest rates, according to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Worst-hit states

Five states accounted for nearly 60% of the total foreclosure activity in the first quarter: In California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada and Illinois, 479,516 properties received foreclosure filings.

California alone, with 230,915 filings in the first quarter, accounted for nearly 29% of the total. The number of foreclosure filings in the state increased 35% from the fourth quarter and 36% from the year-ago period.

In March, California had 107,785 total filings - a jump of 33% from February and almost 67% from a year ago.

Florida's total filings in the first quarter fell 12% from the fourth quarter, but the state's 119,220 were still the second-highest in the country.