2008 foreclosure filings set record
— -- Foreclosure filings surpassed 3 million in 2008, setting a record that has Washington, D.C., policymakers calling for more aggressive efforts this year to aid troubled homeowners.
Foreclosures last year were up 81% from 2007 and 225% from 2006, according to a report out today from RealtyTrac. One in 54 homes received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, RealtyTrac reported.
Banks repossessed more than 850,000 properties in 2008 compared with about 404,000 in 2007.
Houses in some stage of foreclosure totaled 303,410 in December, up 17% from the previous month and up nearly 41% from December 2007.
"That was a surprise," says Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "These filings came despite (foreclosure) moratoriums. There was no way we were expecting a near-record month, and I believe January will be a record-setting month. We're in for a very difficult year."
More than 7% of Nevada housing units received at least one foreclosure notice in 2008, giving it the nation's highest state foreclosure rate for the year.
As foreclosures mount, other homeowners are jumping on falling interest rates to lower their monthly mortgage payments. Refinancing applications, now about 85% of all mortgage applications, have surged to levels not seen since 2003, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.
The average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.89% from 5.07% a week earlier, the MBA reported.
But foreclosures remain a dominant concern for federal policymakers as Congress weighs the release of the second $350 billion from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program it passed in October.
The House is expected to vote this week on a bill introduced by Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., that would require at least $50 billion of that money to be spent on mitigating foreclosures. The Treasury Department would have to reach agreements with each bank that gets bailout funding on how the funds are to be used.
