A record number of 31,676 Californians lost their homes to foreclosure in the three months ending Dec. 31, according to figures released Tuesday.
This was the third-straight quarter of record-breaking foreclosures, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Foreclosures were more than double the level of the worst quarter of the last real estate downturn, when 15,418 homes were taken back by lenders in the third quarter of 1996, according to DataQuick.
DataQuick President Marshall Prentice attributed the spike in foreclosures to falling home prices.
"With today's depreciation, an increasing number of homeowners find themselves owing more on a property than its market value," Prentice said.
Statewide, the median price for a home peaked in March at 484,000 dollars, then fell to 402,000 dollars by year's end, according to DataQuick.
In Southern California, median sales prices peaked in the spring and summer of last year at 505,000 dollars and ended the year at 425,000 dollars, said DataQuick.
It said default notices -- the first step toward foreclosure --jumped to a 15-year high of 81,550. That total was more than double the 37,994 default notices sent in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Fewer homeowners in default are able to hold on to their property. An estimated 41 percent of those in default are now able to avoid foreclosure by bringing their payments current, refinancing or selling their home to pay off their loan, DataQuickreported.
A year ago, 71 percent of homeowners in default were able to recover.
Source: Xinhua
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