US foreclosures up 81 percent

by Dave Keating | January 15, 2009 at 05:13 am

32 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

A new study shows that foreclosures in 2008 rose an astonishing 81 percent, confirming what many market analysts were observing anecdotally.

U.S. foreclosure activity jumped 81 percent in 2008, with one in every 54 households getting at least one filing notice, suggesting various state laws and private programs to slow the process have been ineffective, RealtyTrac reported on Thursday.

Nearly 3.2 million foreclosure filings on 2.3 million properties were made last year, the Irvine, California-based research firm said. Filings include notice of default, auction sale or bank repossession.

"Clearly the foreclosure prevention programs implemented to date have not had any real success in slowing down this foreclosure tsunami," James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in the report.