U.S. foreclosures spike 60% in Feb. from year ago

Foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale and bank repossessions — were reported on 223,651 properties nationwide, which meant that one in every 557 U.S. households had received a foreclosure filing, said RealtyTrac.

On a monthly basis, foreclosure filings declined by four percent from January, said the company, which provides a national database of over one million properties.

James Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac, noted the four percent monthly decrease in February was in line with the six percent monthly decrease seen in February 2007.

“However, the year-over-year increase of 60 percent this February was significantly higher than the 19 percent year-over-year increase in February 2007, indicating we have still not reached the peak of foreclosure activity in this cycle,” Saccacio said.

Foreclosures have spiked since the collapse of a housing boom more than two years ago amid tightening credit. Rising defaults on subprime, or high-risk, mortgages triggered a credit crunch in mid 2007 that is spreading through global financial markets.

Nevada, California and Florida, which once were epicenters of the property bubble, had the highest state foreclosure rates in the country in February, according to RealtyTrac’s “U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.”

Nevada continued to lead in foreclosures, with one in every 165 households notified it would lose its home — more than three times the national average.

Foreclosures in Nevada were up one percent from the previous month and up 68 percent from February 2007.

California registered the nation’s second-highest pace of foreclosures, with one in every 242 households receiving a foreclosure filing, and Florida was third, with one in every 254 households.

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