U.S. Foreclosure Filings Rise 62% in April

thank god that the problems are contained and not spreading........

zum glück sind die auswirkungen ja lt. wall street limiteirt und keine gesamtwirtschaftliche bedrohung.....

May 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. foreclosure filings jumped 62 percent in April from a year earlier and the number of households falling behind on mortgages probably will climb further this year as home prices fall and lending standards rise, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

California, Florida and Ohio led the U.S. in filings. There were 147,708 default notices, auction sale letters and bank repossessions last month as declining prices made it harder to refinance, particularly for borrowers with poor or limited credit, the Irvine, California-based seller of foreclosure data said today. April's total compares with 91,168 filings a year earlier.

Foreclosures are being ``fueled by a combustible mix of risky loans taken out in the last few years -- many in the subprime market -- and slowing home price appreciation,'' said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement.

Mortgage lenders are raising credit standards after the number of loans entering foreclosure rose to an all-time high in the fourth quarter. The 2007 median price for an existing home likely will decline 1 percent to $219,800, the National Association of Realtors said last month, the first drop since the real estate group began keeping records in 1968 and probably the first decline since the Great Depression.

More than 50 subprime lenders have folded, filed for bankruptcy protection or sought a buyer since January 2006. (seehttp://ml-implode.com/ )

California had the largest number of foreclosure filings last month, with 30,505, followed by Florida at 14,318 and Ohio with 11,431, RealtyTrac said. .... Ohio's foreclosure activity rose 39 percent from March and 135 percent from April 2006. ....

Nevada and Colorado posted the highest foreclosure rates, or foreclosures per household, in April. Nevada had one filing for every 232 households, the highest for the fourth straight month. Nevada's foreclosure activity more than tripled from a year earlier. The state's filings fell 21 percent in April from March.

Colorado's filings rose 57 percent from April 2006 through last month, putting it at a rate of one for every 314 households. Colorado's fell 7 percent in April from March, RealtyTrac said. Connecticut's foreclosure rate last month jumped to the third-highest from 15th, with one filing for every 329 households, or more than double the national average,....

In the first quarter, properties valued at $750,000 or more made up about 2.5 percent of all foreclosures, the highest since the first quarter of 2005.

``It's not just homes that are in poor areas or valued less going into foreclosure,'' said Blomquist.

``The problem is widespread.''

Houses valued at less than $225,000 accounted for 56 percent of foreclosure filings last quarter, down from an average of about 65 percent during the two years RealtyTrac has collected the data.