There were 6,138 foreclosure filings in the county in January, research firm RealtyTrac is reporting.
That total was up 13 percent from January 2008.
January’s filings, though down 8 percent from the month before, appeared to further confirm that the foreclosure rate was artificially low while lenders dealt with the new state regulation.
There was a point last fall when some analysts hoped the foreclosure trend had faded when defaults appeared to fall off.
But the drop came from a lag in the foreclosure-related filings due to a new state law requiring lenders to attempt more communication with distressed borrowers. The foreclosure rate came roaring back in December, when 6,701 foreclosure-related records were filed. That was a 40 percent increase from November.
Foreclosure filings are the records filed when a home reaches a new stage of foreclosure; there are three stages — notice of default, notice of trustees sale, and bank repossession.
You might want to check out the last few posts in Rich Toscano’s blog, too — he’s made some great graphs showing some trends in for-sale home inventory.