‘94 Foreclosures Setting Local and State Records : Real estate: The good news is that the rates of increase in repossessions have slowed dramatically, a research firm said.

The number of homes and business properties seized by lenders this year through foreclosure will be a record both in Orange County and for California, but the huge rates of increase in recent years have slowed dramatically, a research firm said Tuesday.

Mortgage lenders will take possession of 76,058 real estate parcels statewide and 6,084 in Orange County, representing in each instance an increase of 13% over last year, according to TRW Redi Property Data in Riverside.

The annual totals are projected from actual foreclosures through November this year, the company said.

In each of the previous three years, foreclosures have grown at least 60% statewide and 73% in the county. The slower pace this year is encouraging news, said TRW market research analyst Nima Nattagh.

“Against the backdrop of improving economy and real estate market conditions in California, foreclosures have stabilized,” Nattagh said.

The number of foreclosures is an important gauge of both real estate values and overall employment, he said. The numbers for this year show that some people still had trouble finding enough work to pay their mortgages and that real estate values remained low.

Next year, he said, should show some improvement.

Southern California remained the toughest market, accounting for 76% of all foreclosures in the state. Four years ago, Southern California accounted for 54% of foreclosures.

Typically, residential foreclosures represent about 85% of the total, while commercial repossessions account for the rest, he said.

Commercial foreclosures, however, usually are more expensive for lenders, who look at the total amount owed at time of repossession. Statewide, that total amount of mortgage debt owed fell 2.4% statewide to $15 billion but grew 5% in Orange County to $1.52 billion, according to TRW.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Foreclosure Rate Slows

Real estate foreclosures in Orange County increased dramatically in the early 1990s, and the growth continues but more slowly. That mirrors the trend across Southern California. Annual foreclosures, by county:

County 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994* Los Angeles 2,385 6,517 13,334 23,863 27,795 Orange 596 1,584 3,109 5,375 6,084 Riverside 1,054 2,187 4,698 7,317 8,578 San Bernardino 1,392 2,480 4,594 7,475 8,763 San Diego 1,016 1,963 3,635 4,960 5,304 Ventura 215 585 1,052 1,635 1,528 Total 6,658 15,316 30,422 50,625 58,052

* Projection

Source: TRW Redi Property Data; Researched by VALERIE WILLIAMS-SANCHEZ / Los Angeles Times