Foreclosure filings — the records filed when a house is in default or noticed for auction or repossessed by the lender — increased in San Diego County by 113 percent between November 2006 and November 2007 to reach a total of 2,990 last month, according to data released this morning by RealtyTrac.
Monthly, however, the filings logged a 30 percent drop locally from October’s 4,285 filings.
The state saw a 22 percent decline from October, while the country’s filings were 10 percent fewer than October’s. The firm’s CEO, James Saccacio, said in a press release today the drop marks the first double-digit monthly decrease since April 2006.
More from Saccacio, from the RealtyTrac release:
“This could indicate that foreclosure activity has topped out for the year, but the true test of whether this ceiling will hold will come at the beginning of next year — when we anticipate that a seasonal surge in foreclosure filings and another possible wave of resetting mortgages could place further pressure on the housing market. But if the trend of flat or decreasing foreclosure activity we’ve seen over the past three months continues in the first quarter, it would certainly bode well for 2008.”
Broken down by type of filing, here are San Diego County’s results for November:
- Notices of default: 1,858 (down 28 percent from October)
- Notices of auction: 902 (up 34 percent from October)
- Bank repossessions: 230 (down 78 percent from October)
The San Diego metro area dropped from 16th to 19th in California for the highest foreclosure rate per 1,000 households.