81,312 homes lost to foreclosure in September

[seemslikeadream]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/23/real_estate/foreclosures/

The number of foreclosure notices dipped from a record high in August, but was still up 21% from last year.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The housing crisis still has a choke hold on America: In September, 81,312 homes were lost to foreclosure according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed properties.

A total of over 851,000 homes have been repossessed by lenders since August 2007.

In September, another 265,968 troubled borrowers received foreclosure filings - such as default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. That's a decline of 12% from the record high number of filings in August, but the measure was up 21% from Sept. 2007.

In the third quarter of 2008, there were 765,558 foreclosure filings on U.S. properties, up 3% from the second quarter of 2008 and up 71% from 2007's third quarter.

"We have never seen a foreclosure cycle like this one before," said Realty Trac senior vice president Rick Sharga. Other periods of elevated foreclosure rates have been preceded by signs of economic weakness. However, "in this cycle, we have foreclosure problems that have caused an economic downturn."

States step up
The dip in foreclosure filings from August to September was largely thanks to housing laws that were relaxed in several states.