Foreclosure Activity in The Golden State Hits 10-Year High

The number of mortgage default notices sent to California homeowners increased during the first quarter of 2007, rising 23.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the highest level since the second quarter of 1997, according to a recent report by DataQuick Information Systems.

Lending institutions sent default notices to 46,760 homeowners between Jan. 1 and March 31, up 148 percent when compared with the 18,856 default notices sent during the same period one year earlier. The median age of the loans that went into default last quarter was 15 months.

Declining home appreciation rates and mortgage rate resets impacted the rise in default activity during the first quarter, according to the report. While all regions of California experienced an increase in foreclosures, mortgage loans were least likely to go into default in the Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties and most likely in Sacramento, Riverside, and San Joaquin counties.

**Taken from the California Association of Realtors Bulletin, dated April 25, 2007.