FORECLOSURE ACTIVITY TAKES OFF ANNUAL 104.4% SPIKE SEEN IN Q2 AMID WORSENING HOUSING SLUMP.Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX Wilcox may refer to: Place names in the United States
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Foreclosure foreclosure Legal proceeding by which a borrower's rights to a mortgaged property may be extinguished if the borrower fails to live up to the obligations agreed to in the loan contract. activity in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). soared an annual 104.4 percent in the second quarter as the housing market slump Slump A temporary fall in performance, often describing consistently falling security prices for several weeks or months. deepened but the state remained near the national average in terms of filings, an industry tracker said Wednesday. In the April through June period, 27,606 property owners entered some stage of the foreclosure process across the state, the second most in the nation, said Irvine-based RealtyTrac.com. Texas had the most activity with 39,690. Activity in California declined 6.5 percent from the first quarter, the company said. States with lots of houses, like California and Texas, typically have more incidents than other states, noted Rick Sharga, the company's vice president of marketing. California's total equals one filing for every 442 households. The national average is one filing for every 425 households, the company said. Colorado, with one filing for every 158 households, had the nation's highest rate. Foreclosure activity is coming off near historical low levels in response to rising interest rates, declining home sales and lower appreciation rates. ``Activity was probably at artificially low levels the last few years because of the real estate boom,'' Sharga said. ``I think what we're seeing now is a more settling back into more normal levels because the real estate boom has settled down fairly significantly.'' Nationwide, 272,109 properties entered some stage of foreclosure in the second quarter of 2006, up 25 percent from a year earlier and down 16 percent from the first quarter. The nation's second quarter was also higher than any quarter last year, the company said. James J. Saccacio, the company's chief executive officer, noted that a 25 percent annual increase is not a positive trend. ``While the nation's foreclosure rate has certainly shifted into a higher gear since last year, low unemployment and home price appreciation in most housing markets have held foreclosures in check,'' Saccacio said in a statement. The company forecasted a slowdown For articles with similar titles, see Slow Down (disambiguation). A slowdown is an industrial action in which employees perform their duties but seek to reduce productivity or efficiency in their performance of these duties. in foreclosure rates in its first quarter report and now expects that if the summer delivers its typically high number of home buyers, rates won't increase too rapidly. A key factor to track now is the extent to which some of the higher- risk, adjustable-rate mortgages Adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) A mortgage that features predetermined adjustments of the loan interest rate at regular intervals based on an established index. The interest rate is adjusted at each interval to a rate equivalent to the index value plus a predetermined spread, or go into default, Sharga said. RealtyTrack estimates that hundreds of millions of dollars of these types of loans are due to re-set during the rest of this year and if they default at a higher rate than more traditional mortgage loans, it could significantly accelerate filings. ``It's a worrisome trend,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist The Chief Economist is a single position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of responsibility encompassing the at the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Economic Development Corp. Not only are higher mortgage payments possible, many homeowners with adjustable rates Adjustable rate Applies mainly to convertible securities. Refers to interest rate or dividend that is adjusted periodically, usually according to a standard market rate outside the control of the bank or savings institution, such as that prevailing on Treasury bonds or notes. are also facing higher gas and electricity costs, he said. ``There are some people who could fall off the edge. We've got to watch this trend very carefully.'' greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3743 |
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