REAL ESTATE

Foreclosures Climb: Southern California bankers are receiving a belated, unwanted holiday gift from late 1992: $4 billion worth of foreclosed commercial and residential real estate.

The number of residential and commercial foreclosures in Southern California jumped by 80% for the first five months of 1993 from the comparable period of 1992, according to TRW Redi Property Data. Lenders took possession of 17,850 properties through May this year, of which about 85% were owner-occupied homes.

Those figures actually reflect the late 1992 financial difficulties of borrowers: It usually takes at least five months for a lender to take back a property.

The good news? The foreclosure rate is rising at a slower pace than from 1991 to 1992, when it was up 103%.