MORE HOME LOANS IN DEFAULT FORECLOSURES UP 3.5% FROM A YEAR AGO.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer 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 increased annually for the first time in more than three years during the third quarter, reflecting lower appreciation rates and riskier loans, an industry tracker said Thursday. But it is not a sign of widespread market distress because foreclosure activity is increasing off an extremely low level, said La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems. During the third quarter, lenders sent default notices to 12,568 California homeowners, up 3.5 percent from the year-ago period and up 0.8 percent from the second quarter, said La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems. The last annual increase was a 5.2 percent jump to 30,225 notices in the 2002 first quarter. Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, saw a year-over-year increase in foreclosure activity of 19.9 percent, while the Bay Area saw a 13.1 percent decline and the Central Valley a 22.5 percent drop. ``The numbers are so low that any change is going to be a bit of an increase,'' said DataQuick analyst John Karevoll. ``We're not going to be concerned about these numbers until they are triple what they are now.'' He notes that a year ago, foreclosure activity in 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 was at a record low. The numbers have have been so low that the company has not been paying as much attention to them as in the past. When the residential real estate market tanked in the 1990s, DataQuick tracked foreclosure activity on a monthly basis. But the company switched to quarterly reports when the market began booming in 2000. Activity peaked in the 1996 first quarter at 59,897 transactions. ``Current foreclosure levels are extremely low and this increase is a step towards more normal activity,'' said DataQuick president Marshall Prentice. Prices continue to indicate that activity will remain low. But appreciation rates are moderating. For example, in the third quarter the statewide median home price increased an annual 17.6 percent to $454,000. A year ago the increase was 19.5 percent. On a loan-by-loan basis, mortgages are least likely to go into default in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. counties. The likelihood is highest in the Central Valley and Inland Empire In·land Empire A region of the northwest United States between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, comprising eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, and western Montana. Farming, lumbering, and mining are important to the area. . Only about 10 percent of homeowners who find themselves in the default process actually lose their homes to foreclosure. Most are able to stop the foreclosure process by bringing their mortgage payments current, or by selling their home and paying the loan off. Jim Ezell, president of the Van Nuys-based Southland south·land or South·land n. A region in the south of a country or an area. south  land·er n.Noun 1. Regional Association of Realtors, said the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. market remains strong and that there is not much foreclosure activity here. One thing to keep track of, though, is whether 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. continue to rise, since they made up a such a big chunk of mortgages last year. ``Industry-wide, we're probably looking at the end of 2007 for more activity if it's going to happen,'' Ezell said. ``That's when the adjustables are getting their due date. That's when the day of reckoning might come.'' Gregory J. Wilcox, (818) 713-3743 greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com |
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