Bleak picture as foreclosures soar

CHICAGO (WBBM/AP) - The latest home foreclosure figures show no end to the nation's housing crisis. That's the bleak picture painted by the foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac.

Looking at the numbers for the first half of this year, RealtyTrac's Rick Sharga says Illinois is in 8th place when it comes to homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure.

The foreclosure rate here was up nearly 30 percent over the same period a year ago. Sharga says the numbers nationally remain troubling.

"The numbers are just mind-boggling. There are 4 consecutive months with over 300,000 foreclosure notices going out - that's never happened before."

And that translates into a dark outlook for the housing market. He says, "Until we can figure out a way to slow down the inflow and start to sell off the inventory that's out there, the housing market has just about no chance to stabilize."

Nationwide, over a million and a half properties went into some stage of foreclosure in the first six months of this year and the second quarter total was the highest since RealtyTrac began following foreclosures in 2005.

More information at www.realtytrac.com

Nationside, the number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes soared by nearly 15 percent in the first half of the year as more people lost their jobs and were unable to pay their monthly mortgage bills.

The mushrooming foreclosure crisis affected more than 1.5 million homes in the first six months of the year, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

The data show that, despite the Obama administration's plan to encourage the lending industry to prevent foreclosures by handing out $50 billion in subsidies, America's housing woes continue to spread. Experts don't expect foreclosures to peak until the middle of next year.

Foreclosure filings rose more than 33 percent in June compared with the same month last year and were up nearly 5 percent from May, RealtyTrac said.

"Despite all the efforts to date, we clearly haven't got a handle on how to address the situation," said Sharga.

More than 336,000 households received at least one foreclosure-related notice in June, according to the foreclosure listing firm's report. That works out to one in every 380 U.S. homes.

It was the fourth-straight month in which more than 300,000 households receiving a foreclosure filing, which includes default notices and several other legal notices that homeowners receive before they finally lose their homes. Banks repossessed more than 79,000 homes in June, up from about 65,000 a month earlier.

On a state-by-state basis, Nevada had the nation's highest foreclosure rate in the first half of the year, with more than 6 percent of all households receiving a filing. Arizona was No. 2, followed by Florida, California and Utah. Rounding out the top 10 were Georgia, Michigan, Illinois, Idaho and Colorado.

The Obama administration in March launched a $50 billion plan to give the lending industry financial incentives to modify mortgages to lower payments, but it's off to a slow start.

As of early July, about 130,000 borrowers were enrolled in three-month trial modifications under the plan, and 25 mortgage companies have signed up to receive potential payments of up to $18.6 billion, according to the Treasury Department. But analysts and housing counselors say it isn't having much of an impact.

"The plan isn't going well, at least not yet," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "It's a creative plan with lots of incentives, but it's very complex."

In testimony prepared for delivery at a Senate hearing on Thursday, Bank of America executive Allen Jones said the company has about 80,000 loan modifications in the works under the new government guidelines, including some that aren't in the three-month trial phase yet.

"We have achieved this level of success by devoting substantial resources to this effort," Jones said, noting that the company has more than 7,000 employees handling calls and working on modifications. Industry experts, however, say the response from most mortgage companies has been lackluster.

"They've been slow to make sure they understand it and put all the processes and people in place," said Joel Lewis, vice president of financial services at Convergys Corp., which runs call centers for the financial industry and other companies.

A week ago, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan sought to ramp up pressure on the industry, saying in a letter to participating mortgage companies that the industry needs to "devote substantially more resources to this program for it to fully succeed." They also summoned mortgage executives to a July 28 meeting with top government officials.

U.S. Foreclosure Market Data by State – Jan to Jun 2009

Rate Rank	State Name	Total Properties with Filings	%Housing Units	1/every X HU	%Δ from Jul-Dec 08	%Δ from Jan-Jun 08
--	U.S.	1,528,364	1.19	84	9.46	14.66
30	Alabama	9,657	0.45	221	125.47*	179.75*
34	Alaska	1,072	0.38	263	-8.22	18.45
2	Arizona	89,799	3.37	30	13.28	54.51
25	Arkansas	8,646	0.67	149	8.75	25.69
4	California	391,611	2.94	34	13.69	14.52
10	Colorado	26,565	1.25	80	-0.70	-18.62
27	Connecticut	8,801	0.61	163	-16.56	-31.18
32	Delaware	1,559	0.40	249	0.26	32.01
	District of Columbia	1,776	0.62	160	-11.90	-31.06
3	Florida	268,064	3.07	33	7.16	41.95
6	Georgia	56,391	1.42	70	17.79	16.06
18	Hawaii	3,603	0.71	141	53.19	296.81
9	Idaho	7,952	1.26	79	46.20	112.90*
8	Illinois	68,932	1.31	76	19.23	29.46
13	Indiana	24,665	0.89	113	-2.89	-10.77
41	Iowa	2,996	0.23	444	1.32	3.67
33	Kansas	4,660	0.38	262	17.71	43.61
40	Kentucky	4,356	0.23	438	-4.68	28.95*
39	Louisiana	5,160	0.28	360	40.95*	34.38*
42	Maine	1,540	0.22	452	-6.95	10.63
15	Maryland	18,112	0.78	128	3.38	2.76
23	Mass.	18,458	0.68	147	6.24	-43.73
7	Michigan	60,786	1.34	74	1.29	-1.28
24	Minnesota	15,537	0.67	148	36.41	52.74
43	Mississippi	2,175	0.17	577	89.46	94.37*
28	Missouri	13,880	0.52	191	-17.13†	-21.11†
48	Montana	290	0.07	1,502	-49.03	-59.61
45	Nebraska	638	0.08	1,224	-48.92	-69.65
1	Nevada	68,708	6.23	16	23.26	61.33
22	New Hampshire	4,044	0.68	147	5.23	24.16
21	New Jersey	23,889	0.68	146	-29.28	-30.25
37	New Mexico	2,631	0.31	328	43.69*	11.11*
38	New York	24,210	0.30	328	10.67	-18.87
36	North Carolina	12,642	0.31	326	-25.88	-37.91
49	North Dakota	200	0.06	1,553	-24.24	85.19*
12	Ohio	58,937	1.16	86	-5.81	-14.76
35	Oklahoma	5,609	0.35	289	-13.49	-27.03
11	Oregon	19,053	1.18	84	56.20	122.43
31	Pennsylvania	23,864	0.44	230	3.27	24.61*
19	Rhode Island	3,172	0.70	142	-11.52	-7.95
26	South Carolina	13,145	0.65	154	33.32	125.12*
47	South Dakota	256	0.07	1,395	4.92	59.01
16	Tennessee	20,365	0.75	134	-4.05	-20.96††
29	Texas	49,144	0.52	192	6.25	-14.38
5	Utah	13,496	1.46	69	37.43	87.65
50	Vermont	35	0.01	8,898	-55.70	-42.62
14	Virginia	28,368	0.87	115	-3.05†	3.76†
17	Washington	19,855	0.72	138	23.17	43.01
46	West Virginia	663	0.08	1,331	111.82	73.56
20	Wisconsin	17,984	0.70	142	70.92	49.69*
44	Wyoming	413	0.17	587	-10.22	43.40

*Actual increase may not be as high due to data collection changes or improvements

† Collection of some records previously classified as NOD in this state was discontinued starting in January 2009

†† Collection of some records previously classified as NOD in this state was discontinued starting in September 2008

U.S. Foreclosure Market Data by State – Q2 2009

		Properties with Foreclosure Filings
Rate Rank	State Name	NOD	LIS	NTS	NFS	REO	Total	1/every X HU (rate)	%Δ from Q1 09	%Δ from Q2 08
--	U.S.	155,400	181,722	266,833	89,617	196,257	889,829	144	10.75	20.29
27	Alabama	1	0	4,847	0	1,556	6,404	334	74.54	250.14*
34	Alaska	7	0	449	0	132	588	480	6.72	16.21
4	Arizona	23	0	34,872	0	13,019	47,914	56	-2.45	28.70
23	Arkansas	418	0	3,106	0	1,116	4,640	277	1.29	33.56
2	California	124,275	0	84,211	0	45,419	253,905	52	9.96	25.32
9	Colorado	41	0	10,938	0	3,618	14,597	146	15.80	-10.08
33	Connecticut	0	2,100	0	312	616	3,028	475	-48.47	-38.77
32	Delaware	0	0	0	609	244	853	456	3.02	40.99
	District of Columbia	365	0	452	0	174	991	287	18.40	-15.66
3	Florida	0	101,602	0	37,664	18,777	158,043	55	32.56	44.42
7	Georgia	2	0	22,057	0	9,233	31,292	127	9.38	12.75
15	Hawaii	535	0	1,380	0	211	2,126	238	36.81	328.63
6	Idaho	2,433	0	2,552	0	115	5,100	124	18.80	144.49
10	Illinois	0	11,807	0	12,130	8,849	32,786	160	-15.86	21.93
13	Indiana	0	4,767	1	5,697	3,404	13,869	200	11.33	-0.15
41	Iowa	0	0	701	0	955	1,656	803	5.34	19.83
35	Kansas	0	480	0	1,238	717	2,435	501	-4.55	24.17
40	Kentucky	0	976	0	1,179	689	2,844	670	63.92*	55.07*
38	Louisiana	0	134	0	2,498	654	3,286	566	66.72*	73.68*
42	Maine	0	263	0	500	66	829	840	6.83	0.48
17	Maryland	0	6,543	0	1,101	1,676	9,320	249	0.33	-1.40
19	Massachusetts	0	7,178	0	1,994	1,606	10,778	253	31.55	-33.36
8	Michigan	0	0	19,444	0	14,369	33,813	134	1.90	2.88
18	Minnesota	63	0	5,342	0	3,729	9,134	252	27.34	61.01
43	Mississippi	0	0	1,131	0	344	1,475	851	92.06	117.23
29	Missouri	3	0	4,107	0	3,180	7,290	363	-0.01	-24.66†
48	Montana	0	0	15	0	136	151	2,884	-1.31	-55.06
45	Nebraska	0	376	0	7	35	418	1,868	88.29	-67.19
1	Nevada	21,713	0	12,963	0	9,019	43,695	25	5.81	77.21
25	New Hampshire	0	0	1,607	0	441	2,048	290	-7.96	17.84
24	New Jersey	0	7,660	0	3,202	1,662	12,524	279	6.96	-27.56
31	New Mexico	0	1,038	0	670	291	1,999	431	144.68*	73.83*
39	New York	0	10,082	0	2,181	1,401	13,664	581	24.03	-14.73
37	North Carolina	1,257	0	3,263	0	3,099	7,619	541	27.24	-27.51
49	North Dakota	0	1	0	48	39	88	3,529	-27.27	72.55*
11	Ohio	0	12,000	0	10,163	8,954	31,117	163	-1.51	-17.44
36	Oklahoma	936	0	1,487	0	633	3,056	531	4.95	-21.36
12	Oregon	221	0	7,225	0	2,189	9,635	167	-8.65	109.05
30	Pennsylvania	0	5,341	0	4,900	2,979	13,220	414	12.06	27.03*
22	Rhode Island	13	0	420	0	1,226	1,659	272	-3.04	-0.06
26	South Carolina	0	3,970	0	999	1,830	6,799	297	-3.09	113.87*
46	South Dakota	0	81	0	74	5	160	2,233	66.67	72.04
21	Tennessee	0	0	6,090	0	4,387	10,477	260	1.11	-12.75††
28	Texas	39	0	15,541	0	11,236	26,816	352	6.16	-7.88
5	Utah	3,041	0	3,252	0	2,143	8,436	110	37.33	111.91
50	Vermont	0	0	1	0	13	14	22,245	-33.33	-62.16
14	Virginia	13	0	10,917	0	4,487	15,417	212	4.70	8.75†
16	Washington	0	0	8,013	0	3,181	11,194	245	15.25	45.00
47	West Virginia	0	0	311	0	30	341	2,589	1.79	74.87
20	Wisconsin	0	5,323	0	2,451	2,284	10,058	255	12.88	61.83*
44	Wyoming	1	0	138	0	89	228	1,063	5.07	43.40

*Actual increase may not be as high due to data collection changes or improvements

† Collection of some records previously classified as NOD in this state was discontinued starting in January 2009

†† Collection of some records previously classified as NOD in this state was discontinued starting in September 2008

U.S. Foreclosure Market Data by State – June 2009

		Properties with Foreclosure Filings
Rate Rank	State Name	NOD	LIS	NTS	NFS	REO	Total	1/every X HU (rate)	%Δ from May 09	%Δ from Jun 08
--	U.S.	57,031	58,171	108,875	32,622	79,474	336,173	380	4.57	33.21
24	Alabama	0	0	1,966	0	750	2,716	787	38.08	250.90*
36	Alaska	0	0	165	0	45	210	1,344	9.95	9.38
3	Arizona	12	0	11,263	0	5,559	16,834	158	-0.18	29.99
22	Arkansas	143	0	1,062	0	462	1,667	772	-0.24	48.05
2	California	44,258	0	36,145	0	20,642	101,045	132	9.54	47.15
9	Colorado	6	0	4,004	0	1,714	5,724	372	17.39	17.34
46	Connecticut	0	56	0	115	56	227	6,337	-79.48	-86.01
29	Delaware	0	0	0	235	106	341	1,140	-11.66	59.35
	District of Columbia	186	0	155	0	76	417	682	39.46	-19.65
4	Florida	0	32,220	0	13,312	7,367	52,899	165	-10.24	31.10
6	Georgia	1	0	11,050	0	2,973	14,024	282	33.36	60.94
19	Hawaii	155	0	460	0	91	706	718	-13.48	426.87
8	Idaho	1,098	0	745	0	38	1,881	335	30.26	182.43
11	Illinois	0	3,648	0	3,998	3,150	10,796	486	-1.33	32.35
13	Indiana	0	1,776	0	2,282	1,510	5,568	499	12.30	14.78
41	Iowa	0	0	266	0	294	560	2,374	-11.81	31.76
33	Kansas	0	215	0	491	252	958	1,273	6.56	59.93
40	Kentucky	0	415	0	414	300	1,129	1,688	4.73	54.45*
34	Louisiana	0	131	0	1,046	275	1,452	1,280	54.30*	148.63*
42	Maine	0	99	0	157	36	292	2,386	-10.15	5.80
21	Maryland	0	2,251	0	246	603	3,100	748	-12.40	71.84
26	Massachusetts	0	2,048	0	771	402	3,221	845	-11.05	6.27
7	Michigan	0	0	7,965	0	5,642	13,607	333	-2.04	13.16
18	Minnesota	7	0	1,736	0	1,589	3,332	692	12.99	96.69
39	Mississippi	0	0	441	0	314	755	1,662	73.96	122.71
27	Missouri	1	0	1,567	0	1,544	3,112	851	11.30	-9.85†
47	Montana	0	0	2	0	60	62	7,025	67.57	-34.04
45	Nebraska	0	128	0	3	18	149	5,240	-11.83	-65.75
1	Nevada	8,726	0	6,252	0	3,786	18,764	59	9.37	115.36
37	New Hampshire	0	0	417	0	21	438	1,356	-39.75	-12.92
25	New Jersey	0	2,405	0	1,325	603	4,333	808	-1.70	-13.34
31	New Mexico	0	303	0	273	134	710	1,214	-10.80	89.33*
38	New York	0	3,614	0	756	480	4,850	1,637	0.52	-9.63
35	North Carolina	767	0	1,184	0	1,224	3,175	1,299	22.73	-8.37
49	North Dakota	0	0	0	19	13	32	9,705	39.13	190.91
10	Ohio	0	4,121	0	3,981	3,150	11,252	450	-0.95	-14.72
32	Oklahoma	445	0	532	0	318	1,295	1,253	47.66	10.40
14	Oregon	36	0	2,125	0	952	3,113	517	1.50	52.08
28	Pennsylvania	0	1,945	0	2,020	976	4,941	1,109	12.91	21.70*
12	Rhode Island	0	0	30	0	882	912	494	128.57	53.79
30	South Carolina	0	996	0	214	476	1,686	1,199	-45.47	58.61*
44	South Dakota	0	81	0	30	2	113	3,161	197.37*	289.66*
15	Tennessee	0	0	2,782	0	1,893	4,675	583	30.99	7.27††
23	Texas	13	0	7,668	0	4,342	12,023	785	22.52	8.79
5	Utah	1,170	0	1,571	0	730	3,471	267	18.59	131.25
50	Vermont	0	0	0	0	11	11	28,312	83.33	-66.67
17	Virginia	7	0	3,531	0	1,650	5,188	631	-3.66	-1.27†
16	Washington	0	0	3,642	0	1,036	4,678	587	22.05	70.61*
48	West Virginia	0	0	101	0	13	114	7,743	12.87	35.71
20	Wisconsin	0	1,719	0	934	878	3,531	725	0.83	49.43*
43	Wyoming	0	0	48	0	36	84	2,885	3.70	7.69