DQNews Archived Article

California Foreclosures Down

by Real Estate Analyst John Karevoll
September, 1997

La Jolla, CA.— The number of California homeowners going into foreclosure declined in August to its lowest level in two years, the result of rising home values and the state's growing economy, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 10,645 default notices were sent to homeowners in August. That was down 11.0 percent from 11,957 for July and down 23.0 percent from 13,822 for August last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The year-over-year decline is the steepest DataQuick has monitored since starting to track Notices of Default in 1992. The August number was the lowest since July 1995 when 9,998 default notices were sent out. The peak was reached in March of last year when lending institutions sent out 15,473 default notices.

"With rising home values, fewer homeowners owe more on their property than it's worth, which is a typical foreclosure situation. We expect home values to increase at a moderate pace for at least another year-and-a-half, which means that foreclosure activity will continue to decline," said Mike Ela, DataQuick president.

While all regions of the state experienced year-over-year declines in foreclosure activity, the declines were strongest in the Bay Area, and in Orange and San Diego counties where default levels are back to their early 1992 levels.

DataQuick monitors real estate activity nationwide, and provides information to consumers, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.

The price drag that foreclosure properties represent in local markets is diminishing. This is happening in part because of the lower number of foreclosure properties, and also because fewer properties are being dumped "as is".

Source: DataQuick Information Systems

Media Inquiries: John Karevoll (909)867-9534

Copyright © 1997 DataQuick Information Systems.
All rights reserved.

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