“[F]oreclosure activity shows no sign of slowing down”

From the Philly Inquirer:

Mortgage foreclosure targets 58% higher in first half of ’07 than ’06

The number of U.S. homes facing foreclosure surged 58 percent in the first half of the year from the same period in 2006, a private data firm said yesterday.
The report from RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif., reflected continuing problems in the housing and mortgage industries.

Pennsylvania ran counter to the national trend, with foreclosures falling 1 percent in the first half of this year to 12,869. But New Jersey’s foreclosures rose 26 percent to 13,417, according to RealtyTrac.

In all, some sort of foreclosure activity was reported for 573,397 properties across the nation in the first half of this year, including receiving notices of default, auction-sale notices, or being repossessed by lenders, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

Not only was the number higher than for the first half of last year, it also was 32 percent higher than the total for the last half of 2006.

From RealtyTrac:

RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report(TM): Foreclosure Activity Up Over 55 Percent in First Half of 2007

RealtyTrac(R) … today released its Midyear 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 925,986 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 573,397 properties nationwide during the first six months of the year, up more than 30 percent from the previous six-month period and up more than 55 percent from the first six months of 2006. The report also shows a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 134 U.S. households for the first half of the year.
…
“Despite a slight drop in June, foreclosure activity shows no sign of slowing down,” noted James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Based on the rate of foreclosure activity in the first half of 2007, we could easily surpass 2 million foreclosure filings by the end of the year, which would represent a year-over-year increase of over 65 percent.”