California Foreclosure Report

Record Number of Foreclosures Scheduled for Sale

California Foreclosure Prevention Act fails to slow filings

08/20/2009 - ForeclosureRadar, the only website that tracks every California foreclosure with daily auction updates; today issued its California Foreclosure Report for July 2009. For the third consecutive month, foreclosure sales jumped significantly as lenders come off the moratorium. Once again, foreclosure stats were mixed, with Notice of Default filings flat, Notice of Trustee Sale filings rising by 31.6 percent and foreclosure sales dropping 22.7 percent. The number of properties scheduled for foreclosure sale - new Notices of Trustee Sale minus those sales that have cancelled or sold - rose to a record level of 124,874, nearly double the levels reached during the foreclosure peak last year.
 

Foreclosure Sales Increase 24.7 Percent

California Foreclosure Prevention Act has unexpected impact on June filings

07/14/2009 - For the third consecutive month, foreclosure sales jumped significantly as lenders come off the moratorium. Foreclosure sales increased by 24.7 percent following a 31.9 percent increase in May, and a 35 percent April increase. Notices of Trustee Sale dropped by an unexpected 28.7 percent, with the timing of the drop indicating that it was in response to the California Foreclosure Prevention Act. This law was widely believed to have little or no impact on foreclosure filings, as it exempted the majority of large lenders that operate in the state.
 

Foreclosure Sales Steadily Climbing

Despite Increases, Lenders Voluntarily Delaying 73 Percent of Scheduled Foreclosures

06/16/2009 - Foreclosures sales jumped 31.9 percent in May, following a 35 percent increase the prior month. Notices of Trustee Sale, which set the auction date and time, also rose a significant 42 percent from April, indicating that foreclosure sales are likely to continue to rise in the weeks and months ahead. Despite these increases, and a record number of foreclosures scheduled for auction, lenders continue to voluntarily postpone the majority of foreclosure sales.
 

Investors Purchase Record Number of Foreclosures at Auction

April Foreclosure Notices Drop from March Record Levels

05/12/2009 - In a reversal from the prior month, foreclosure notices dropped while foreclosure sales rose. Sales at auction rose by 35 percent overall and a record number of those properties were purchased by third parties at an average 28 percent discount from estimated market value. Notices of Default, the first step in the foreclosure process, dropped by 18.2 percent from the record level set the prior month. Notices of Trustee sale, which set the auction date and time, also dropped by 8.5 percent from the prior month.
 

Foreclosure Notices Soar, Foreclosure Sales Drop

Government Intervention Continues to Play Havoc in Foreclosure Market

04/14/2009 - Notices of Default, the first step in the foreclosure process, reached a record level – nearly 26 percent higher than the previous historic peak in April 2008. Notices of Trustee sale, which set the auction date and time, rose 82.3 percent from the prior month, though not yet reaching the prior record level set in July 2008. While foreclosure notices rose dramatically, sales at auction decreased 41.4 percent, to reach the lowest levels seen since the third quarter of 2007. While there is a lag between foreclosure filings and foreclosure sales, these dramatic differences are likely best explained by the unintended consequences of government intervention in the foreclosure process.
 

Average Negative Equity at Foreclosure Exceeds $200,000

Notices of Default and Properties Sold at Auction Continue to Rise in February

03/12/2009 - The average difference between current market value and outstanding loan amount exceeded $200,000 for properties sold at foreclosure auction in February. This represents a 189 percent increase in negative equity when compared to properties foreclosed on a year earlier. Notices of Default have increased 21.3 percent from January and have nearly returned to the peak levels reached in April 2008, despite the President's Day holiday and February being a short month. Properties sold at foreclosure auction (trustee sales), rose 11.9 percent from January to 17,131.
 

Lender Turmoil Impacts Foreclosure Numbers

Auction investment opportunities continue to increase

02/12/2009 - January brought an unexpected, across the board drop, in the total Notices of Default, Notices of Trustee Sale, and sales at auction, not only from the prior month, but year over year as well. Even after accounting for the fact that January had two fewer days than December, only properties sold at auction saw a slight increase of 3.4 percent. Analyzing the data at the lender level it appears these drops can be primarily attributed to the significant changes taking place among the country's major lending institutions.
 

Notices Of Default Nearly Double

California State Senate Bill 1137 fails to reduce foreclosures

01/13/2009 - Notices of Default have rebounded from the stall caused by California State Senate Bill 1137, which temporarily slowed foreclosures by imposing new requirements on lenders. With 42,421 filings in December, Notices of Default are back to the record levels reached in the second quarter of 2008, nearly doubling the 21,557 Notices of Default recorded in November.
 

Foreclosures Rebounding from Impact of S.B. 1137

Holiday schedules likely to moderate foreclosure increases through December

12/16/2008 - Despite the clear impact that State Senate Bill 1137 had on foreclosure activity in September and October, November saw significant activity increases across all stages of foreclosure. From October to November, filings of Notices of Default increased 28 percent; Notices of Trustee Sales increased 10 percent and properties sold at auction increased by 14.8 percent.
 

Foreclosure Sales Drop Substantially

Loan modification activity forestalls impact of negative equity

11/12/2008 - Foreclosure sales dropped by 39.1 percent from the prior month, due to significant increases in cancellations and postponements. Under California law, scheduled foreclosure sales can be postponed for a period of up to one year, until they are either cancelled or sold. Cancellations, where the home is taken out of foreclosure, increased by 78 percent in October, resulting in nearly 20 percent of foreclosure sales scheduled for October being called off.
 

New Foreclosure Activity Plunges

California State Senate Bill 1137 takes effect, dramatically impacting foreclosure filings

10/13/2008 - Notice of Default filings, which indicate the start of the foreclosure process, fell 61.8 percent in September due primarily to new legislation that went into effect on September 8th. California State Senate Bill 1137 imposes significant new requirements on lenders prior to filing for foreclosure, and the drop indicates that the lenders were not ready for the impact. The bill also effected new Notice of Trustee Sale filings, which dropped 47.3 percent from August. The bill did not directly impact foreclosure sales; however, they still fell by 12.4 percent.
 

California Foreclosure Activity Mixed

Foreclosure delays may be behind current peak in foreclosure activity

09/16/2008 - Analysis show that Notices of Default, which indicate the start of the foreclosure process, increased in California by 4.8 percent; while both Notices of Trustee Sale and actual foreclosure sales dropped. With the exception of February, a traditionally slow month, Notices of Default have stayed in a tight range between 40,000 and 43,000 per month - a peak which may simply reflect the inability of lenders and trustees to process additional files.