California Foreclosure Report for October 2009

ForeclosureRadar just released it’s California Foreclosure Report for October 2009

Here are the highlights…

After 3 months of consecutive declines the number of foreclosure sales taken back by banks rose by 22.24 percent from September and 20.95 percent from October 2008.
Despite these dramatic increases, the number of foreclosures taken back by banks remains 42.56 percent below the peak reached in July 2008, from which time the inventory of scheduled foreclosures has grown by 131.36 percent.

“While we continue to see a steady stream of properties entering foreclosure, relatively few are completing the process and being sold at auction despite the increase this month,” says Sean O’Toole, Founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com. “The bigger picture is that more and more homeowners are finding themselves upside down in foreclosure limbo, some hoping for a loan modification or short sale, while others are just waiting for a knock on the door”.

Foreclosure filings in October remained relatively flat month-over-month. The significant year-over-year increases are largely explained by CA Senate Bill 1137, which went into effect in September 2008 and temporarily slowed the foreclosure process.

We continue to see the number of properties scheduled for foreclosure sale increase. Lenders continue to postpone the sales rather than foreclose, with 87 percent of foreclosure postponements being made at the lenders request or with their agreement, compared with just 10 percent that are postponed due to bankruptcy.

Click HERE to read the whole report and get a county-by-county breakdown.