State Home Foreclosures at 7-Year Low

The number of California homeowners going into foreclosure hit the lowest level in seven years during the second quarter, but was higher than expected given the state’s strong economy, a real estate information service reported. Foreclosure proceedings were started on 25,207 homeowners during the period, a 17.7% dip from the 30,873 in the 1998 second quarter, according to Acxiom/DataQuick. Last quarter’s numbers were the lowest since the first quarter of 1992, when 18,806 default notices were recorded--the first step of the formal foreclosure process. Despite the seven-year low, however, analysts characterized the number of default notices as higher than expected given the state’s strong economy. One explanation, according to Acxiom/DataQuick’s John Karevoll, is that today’s cash-strapped homeowners appear to be more inclined to fall behind on their mortgage payments sooner than their cash-strapped counterparts of a decade ago. “It used to be people would borrow from relatives and get cash advances on their credit cards to come up with money to pay their mortgages, but I don’t know if that’s the case anymore,” Karevoll said. “I think people have become desensitized to being foreclosed on.” Southern California experienced the most noticeable drops in foreclosure activity, including declines of 28.7% in Los Angeles County, 26% in Orange County, 22.3% in San Diego County, 17.9% in Riverside County, 11.4% in San Bernardino County and 31.5% in Ventura County.