O.C. default notices up 167.9% over same period last year

California Foreclosure News

Article Abstract:  Orange County foreclosure rates jumped to nearly 170% this quarter compared to the same period of 2007.  However, these foreclosure rates represent defaults and foreclosures that have gone all the way through the foreclosure process.  Los Angeles County foreclosure notices accounted for about 20,339 homeowners in default- also up more than one hundred percent since last year’s Q1. Riverside County foreclosures were the highest with 15,022 homeowners receiving NOD. Experts predict California foreclosure rates will continue to increase as home prices fall and the economy slows.  California foreclosures are at their highest since 1992 during the savings and loan crisis.  For the entire Orange County foreclosure article please continue reading below: 

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The number of Orange County homes slipping toward foreclosure jumped by 167.9% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year, while statewide loan-default numbers reached their highest levels in at least 16 years, a real estate information service reported today.

Lenders sent default notices to 7,082 homeowners in Orange County, up 167.9% from the 2007 first-quarter total of 2,644, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.

In Los Angeles County, default notices were sent to 20,339 homeowners, up 130% from last year's first-quarter total of 8,843, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems.

"The main factor behind this foreclosure remains the decline in home values," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president. "Additionally, a lot of the 'loans-gone-wild' activity happened in late 2005 and 2006 and that's working its way through the system.

"The big 'if' right now is whether or not the economy is in recession," he said. "If it is, the foreclosure problem could spread beyond the current categories of dicey mortgages and into mainstream home loans."

In Riverside County, default notices were sent to 15,022 homeowners, an increase of 161.3% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year.

Statewide, default notices were sent to 113,676 homeowners in the first quarter of the year, DataQuick reported. That's a 39.4% jump from the previous quarter and a 143.1% increase from the same quarter last year, when 46,760 default notices were sent.

Last quarter's default notice total was the highest since DataQuick began keeping statistics in 1992.

The default numbers set records in almost all of the state's 58 counties -- with Los Angeles County being the exception, despite the dramatic jump. The 20,339 default notices in Los Angeles County fell short of the record set in the first quarter of 1996, when 21,444 notices were sent, DataQuick reported.

Default notices do not always lead to a home foreclosure, according to DataQuick. In general, about 32% of homeowners emerge from the foreclosure process by bringing their payments current, refinancing or selling the home.

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