Foreclosure filings hit new highs

Foreclosure-related filings on U.S. homes during the first three months of the year were up 9 percent from the previous quarter and 24 percent from a year ago, surpassing previous highs for the current downturn, data aggregator RealtyTrac said today.

The 803,489 properties subject to some kind of foreclosure filing during the first quarter -- including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions --  marked a record high since RealtyTrac began reporting in January 2005.

Not all homes that enter the foreclosure process are repossessed by lenders, and RealtyTrac said bank repossessions were down 13 percent from the previous quarter.

The latest numbers from RealtyTrac cover January through March, and lenders and loan servicers began implementing the Obama administration's Making Home Affordable program only this month. The program is aimed at helping as many as 9 million homeowners refinance their loans or negotiate more affordable terms.

But the pace of filings seems to have picked up in the final month of the quarter, as foreclosure moratoriums instituted by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and others are lifted, RealtyTrac said.

A record 341,180 properties were subjected to foreclosure-related filings in March -- a 17 percent increase from February and a 46 percent increase from the same month a year ago.

Many of those filings were to initiate new foreclosure proceedings, suggesting that lenders and servicers have been holding off on foreclosures because of moratoria and legislative delays, said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement. ...CONTINUED

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