Foreclosure Frenzy Continues in May

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May was another month for record-breaking foreclosure activity. This time, the new all-time high was set by trustee sale notices (NOTs), which happen late in the foreclosure process and serve as notice of an imminent home repossession. 1,762 NOTs were delivered in May.

Notices of Default (NODs), which serve as an earlier warning that the multi-month foreclosure process has been initiated, were down 5 percent from the prior month. However, the 3,422 NODs delivered in May is the second-highest number on record.

NODs and NOTs were respectively up 114 percent and 187 percent from May of last year.

The accompanying graph, which adjusts NODs and NOTs by San Diego's labor force size to provide a long-term comparison of foreclosure prevalence, shows that the recent level of foreclosure activity continuest to be worlds apart from what took place during the region's protracted 1990s housing bust.

-- RICH TOSCANO