(MCT)—Foreclosures in California plunged 48.5 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier as the residential real estate market continued recovering from its historic collapse, a market tracker said Monday.
The number of foreclosures fell significantly across the state, San Diego-based DataQuick said.
Foreclosures dropped 47 percent in Los Angeles County, 51 percent in San Bernardino County and 48 percent Ventura County, the company said.
State wide foreclosures fell to 21,851 in the second quarter from 42,465 a year earlier, DataQuick said.
And the number of California homeowners receiving mortgage default notices fell to its lowest level in five years, although by much smaller amounts.
During the April through June period lenders issued 54,615 Notices of Default, down 4 percent from 56,633 a year earlier
The second quarter total was the lowest since 53,943 notices were recorded in second quarter of 2007. They peaked in the first quarter of 2009 at 135,431.
The decline in both foreclosures and defaults is encouraging.
“The foreclosure process has always been the sanitation department of the housing sector. It’s where financial distress is processed. The question is whether these lower NOD numbers mean that there’s less distress to process, or if we’re just seeing distress get processed at a slower pace,” John Walsh, DataQuick president, said in a statement.
“Obviously the economy has been on the mend – however slowly.”
©2012 the Daily News (Los Angeles)
Distributed by MCT Information Services
