Home Foreclosures Level Off Statewide in Second Quarter

The rapid increase in California foreclosure activity leveled off last quarter as delinquincy rates stabilized, a real estate information service has reported.

Lenders recorded 25,032 notices of default on California homeowners during April, May and June. That was down 11.2% from first quarter’s 28,191 and down 10.3% from 27,899 for the second quarter a year ago, Dataquick Information Systems reported.

A notice of default is the first step of the formal foreclosure process. It can be followed three to four months later by other procedural steps if mortgage payments are not brought current or the property sold and the mortgage paid off.

The slowdown in foreclosure activity was most noticable in the Bay Area, especially in Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

With the exception of San Diego County, Southern California remained the most troubled area in the state. Southland homeowners went into default at twice the rate of the rest of the state. Riverside County had a particularly high default rate.

Most homes in foreclosure, however, are middle-of-the-road three-bedroom, two-bathroom houses bought for $150,000 to $200,000 four years ago when prices were increasing rapidly. However, there are currently 34 homes being foreclosed on in Beverly Hills, 23 in the Bel Air area and 18 in Malibu. Currently there are 77 homes in foreclosure statewide that were originally purchased for more than $1 million.

Southland Homes in Foreclosure

Number of recorded notices of default during the second quarters of 1992 and 1993.

County 2nd Quarter, 2nd Quarter, Percent 1992 1993 Change Los Angeles 9,626 8,931 -7.2% Orange County 2,720 2,701 -0.7% San Diego 2,259 1,970 -12.8% Riverside 2,084 2,331 11.9% San Bernardino 2,504 2,123 -15.2% Ventura 851 716 -15.9% So. Calif. Total 20,044 18,773 -6.3%