Foreclosure Filings Rise in July
As Credit Woes Continue
By MIKE BARRIS
WSJ
August 14, 2008 7:20 a.m.

Property foreclosure filings for July rose 8% from June and 55% from a
year earlier, as credit woes and tumbling home values continue to hit
homeowners.

Foreclosure-listing service RealtyTrac said there were foreclosure
filings on 272,171 properties last month, or one for every 464
households. Bank repossessions, or real-estate-owned properties (REOs),
continued to be the fastest-growing segment, said Chief Executive James
J. Saccacio. The number of REOs nearly tripled from July 2007, while
default notices jumped 53% and auction notices rose 11%.

The combination of slow sales and bank repossessions has created a
"bloated inventory of bank-owned properties," he said, with RealtyTrac
now having more than 750,000 properties in its active REO database, or
about 17% of the inventory of existing homes for sale reported in June
by the National Association of Realtors.

Nevada, California and Florida posted the highest foreclosure rates.
Nevada topped the list, with one in 106 households receiving a filing.
The number of filings surged 97% from a year earlier. Bank repossessions
rose nearly fivefold in Nevada, while default notices climbed 59% and
auction notices increased 31%.

California, Florida and Nevada accounted for nine of the top 10
metropolitan areas.

**The Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., area led the list, with one
foreclosure filing for every 64 households.**

Merced, Calif., was No. 2, while Stockton and Modesto, Calif., were in
a virtual tie for third. Las Vegas was fifth.