There were 17,629 foreclosure-related actions in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in January, according to a report released Wednesday by RealtyTrac, an Irvine-based firm that markets properties online. That is 8 percent less than December in the two Inland counties but about 40 percent more than January 2008.
Nationally, notices of default, auction sale notices and repossessions were down 10 percent, mostly because of government intervention, James Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The Riverside-San Bernardino area had the fourth-highest foreclosure rate in the country last month, with one in 84 homes having received some sort of notice about delinquent mortgages. The region trailed only Merced, Las Vegas and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.
January's braking action on foreclosures could be temporary because of the moratorium ending, but the mortgage industry may be waiting for Washington's next move.
"Lenders are so confused right now with the stimulus package that it's a wait-and-see-what-happens-next situation," said John Marcell, president of Upland-based Better Mortgage Brokers. "If I were a wholesale lender, I might have started (foreclosure) proceedings, but I'm thinking maybe the next few months will determine what will happen."
Adibi said he doesn't expect the number of foreclosures to continue to slide, and may revert to the levels of late 2008. Adjustable mortgages, which were sold to thousands of Inland home buyers as recently as 2006, usually reset at higher rates after three years.
That means homeowners with that type of loan will see their rates reset and their mortgage payments climb sharply in 2009 and will probably lead to more foreclosures.
Also, many people who have had no trouble meeting monthly mortgage obligations are now facing the possibility that their incomes may vanish through a layoff.
"We are still having job losses," Adibi said. "I think this foreclosure downtick could be deceiving."
Also in the new, Bloomberg reports the 4th quarter price declines are the worst on record.
Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices dropped the most on record in the fourth quarter as foreclosures dragged down values and the recession pushed buyers out of the market.
The median price of a U.S. home declined 12 percent to $180,100 from a year earlier and sales of properties with mortgages in default accounted for 45 percent of all transactions, the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors said today. Prices declined in almost nine out of every 10 cities.
The worst U.S. housing slump since the Great Depression is deepening as foreclosures drain value from neighboring homes and the economic recession worsens. The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose to a record 4.81 million in the last week of January as companies such as Caterpillar Inc. and Home Depot Inc. slashed jobs. The U.S. lost 2.6 million jobs last year in the biggest workforce reduction since 1945.
The steepest price decline was in Florida’s Ft. Myers metropolitan area, down 51 percent, according to the Realtors’ report. Saginaw, Michigan, was second, with a 41 percent drop. The next five biggest decreases were all in California: Riverside, 41 percent; San Jose, 38 percent; San Francisco and Sacramento, 37 percent; and San Diego, 36 percent.
U.S. foreclosure filings exceeded 250,000 for the 10th straight month in January as falling prices trapped owners in homes worth less than the mortgage, RealtyTrac Inc. said in a report today.