California Foreclosure Report

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.

California Foreclosure Sales Jump 22.5 Percent Since June

Lenders take a record $12.55 Billion in loans to foreclosure auction

08/12/2008 - Sales at foreclosure auction jumped dramatically in July, increasing by more than $2 Billion in combined loan value to $12.55 Billion. This represents more than 1,300 properties being taken to auction per business day, up from 415 per day one year ago. Notices of Default declined for the third straight month. The total number of properties that are still actively scheduled for auction increased to 64,598 at the end of July, up from 59,973 at the end of June, and 53,793 at the end of May. This indicates that further increases in foreclosure sales are still likely near term, despite the declining number of defaults.

Defaults Show Signs of Leveling

Percent of foreclosures that result in home loss continues to worsen

07/15/2008 - Noted in the report was a minor decrease in the number of homeowners entering the foreclosure process. This marked the fourth month new Notices of Default remained essentially level. Since foreclosure sales can be postponed up to one year in California, the percentage of defaults that result in home loss takes time to determine. Looking back one year to defaults filed in June 2007, 60 percent of those defaults resulted in the property being sold at foreclosure auction. Since that time default filings have increased 88.8 percent, while properties sold at auction have increased 248 percent. The difference between these increases speaks clearly to the issue that for most homeowners there is no way out, and while defaults may be stabilizing, the impact on homeowners and lenders continues to worsen.

$10 Billion In Loans Go "Back To The Bene"

Investor activity increases at the courthouse steps

06/11/2008 - Lenders, technically called the beneficiary or "bene" by foreclosure auctioneers, took back $10.4 Billion in California loans as a result of foreclosure sales in May. Despite this record we saw a significant increase in investor purchases at auction.

California Foreclosure Sales Exceed 1,000 Per Day

A Record Month for California Foreclosure Activity

05/13/2008 - April foreclosure numbers were up in all categories, creating extraordinary indicators. Average daily auction sales exceeded 1,000 properties a day for the first time in California's history.

No End In Sight For California Foreclosure Mess

March sees record levels of California foreclosure filings

04/15/2008 - March data indicates California's foreclosure crisis is accelerating and suggests that the normalization of the state's real estate market is still far from complete.

California Foreclosure Declines a Welcome Break

Foreclosures Drop In February

03/19/2008 - Statewide foreclosure rates declined in February, even on a daily average basis. Foreclosure sales at auction declined 15 percent to 16,931 sales with a combined loan value of $6.85 Billion. Notices of Defaults, the first step in the foreclosure process, were down 7.6 percent to 37,362. There were 18,636 Notices of Trustee Sale, which set the auction date and time, down 20 percent from January. Despite the declines the numbers are significantly higher than Q4'07 averages, defaults higher by 26 percent, and foreclosure sales higher by 36 percent.

California Foreclosure Auctions Soar In January

As many as 80 percent of defaulting homeowners may lose their home at auction

02/15/2008 - The number of properties sold at foreclosure auction jumped by 55 percent in January to a total of 19,821, with a combined loan value of $8.06 Billion. Compared to the same period one year ago, this represents a staggering 454 percent increase.

Defaults Jump 45.4 Percent in December

January Auction Sales Skyrocketing

01/15/2008 - ForeclosureRadar™, the only web site that tracks every California foreclosure with daily updates on foreclosure auctions, issued its monthly California Foreclosure Report today which tracks foreclosure statistics throughout the state. The report noted a substantial month-to-month 45.4 percent jump in the notices of default (NOD), the initial notice that a homeowner receives once they fail to pay their mortgage. The number of NOD in December was 32,948 compared to 22,665 in November. December auction sales increased by 4.1 percent from November, to a total of 12,783 properties with a loan value of $5.18 Billion dollars. Additionally, a total of 9,001 properties have been sold at auction in just the first eight business days of January, with daily average sales 76 percent higher than in December.