RealtyTrac, Inc., a company that tracks delinquencies and foreclosures was
reporting Thursday that the number of foreclosure filings in
November was 68 percent higher nationwide than those in November 2006.
201,950 foreclosure filings were reported last month; in November 2006 the
figure was 120,334. The November filings, however, were 10 percent lower than
the 224,451 reported in October.
RealtyTrac's numbers tend to be a little squishy as they include default
notices (which in some cases come when a mortgage payment is 60 days late,)
auction sale notices, and bank repos. In different states these filing represent
different degrees of borrower difficulty. Also where a homeowner has a first
and a second mortgage he may have defaulted on both, causing a double count
in the statistics.
RealtyTrac said that foreclosure filings increased from November 2006 to November
2007 in 43 states with Nevada, Florida, and Ohio having the highest rates.