New data from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed homes, showed that almost 3 million homeowners received at least one foreclosure filing in 2009.
According to the marketer, this sets a new record for the number of people falling behind on their mortgage payments in one year.
Data from the Report
According to RealtyTrac, one in 45 households (roughly 2,824,674) nationwide were in default in 2009. That's 21 percent more defaults than in 2008 and more than double the number of 2007.On a brighter note, however, the number of homes that were repossessed was only 871,086, which was only a 1.1 percent increase over 2008.
While the marketer noted that the numbers are higher than ever, they probably would have been even higher had it not been for the efforts of President Barack Obama's Home Affordable Modification Program. Even more, these same efforts are likely to be what resulted in fewer actual foreclosures.
More Foreclosures May Be On the Horizon
Some experts say that while the number of foreclosures may have peaked in July with over 361,000 in that month, there are likely to be more to come. The very modification programs that helped some homeowners stay out of foreclosures may have simply stalled the inevitable for others.
This means that a lot of the foreclosures (filings andactual repossessions)that we didn't see in 2009 have merely been pushed to 2010. Reports show that the majority of those foreclosures noticeshave been and will continue to be in California, Florida, Arizona and Illinois, which have collectively accounted for 50 percent of the nation's properties that received notices.
With the exception of Illinois, the above states aside have also been listed among states with the highest number of actual foreclosures. Along with Nevada with a foreclosure rate of 10 percent, the others have high rates as well (Arizona, 6.1 percent; Florida, 5.9 percent; California, 4.75 percent).
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