Washington - US home foreclosure filings more than doubled
in the second quarter compared to the year-earlier period as plunging
housing prices have continued to threaten mortgage-holders across the
United States.
Nearly 740,000 households, or one in 171, entered some stage of
foreclosure - receiving a mortgage default notice, being foreclosed
on, or warned of the pending auction of their home - during the April
to June period, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
The figure is up 121 per cent from the second quarter of 2007 and
14 per cent from the first quarter of this year.
The report comes as the Senate is considering a major housing bill
that could help some 400,000 struggling homeowners refinance into
government-backed loans.
Majority Democrats in the Senate announced a vote would take place
on Saturday, after the House of Representatives passed the same
legislation earlier in the week.
The bill would also approve a government emergency plan for
struggling lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together manage
about half of the 12-trillion-dollar mortgage market.
President George W Bush this week dropped his earlier opposition
to the legislation and is expected to sign it into law next week.
While a select few states have been hit particularly hard,
including Nevada, California, Florida and Arizona, RealtyTrac said
that 48 of 50 states and 95 of the 100 largest metro areas have seen
foreclosure rates climb in the past year.
Falling housing prices since early 2007 have forced a record
number of homeowners to default on their mortgages, prompting
financial firms to write off nearly 500 billion dollars in mortgage-
related assets.
A total of 1.5 million properties are currently facing foreclosure
or are bank-owned, according to RealtyTrac. Bank repossessions
accounted for 30 per cent of all foreclosure filings in the second
quarter, up from 24 per cent in the first quarter.
Defaults on subprime mortgages - loans to people with a poor
credit history - have been at the heart of the US housing crisis, and
the higher bank repossessions suggest the market is slowly 'purging
the problem loans' before stabilizing, according to James Saccacio,
chief executive officer of Realty Trac.
But Saccacio warned that a second 'surge' in mortgage defaults was
possible in the second half of the year, which could 'refill the
foreclosure pipeline and prolong the recovery.'
USA
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