California's foreclosure rate leads nation in June

By Rachel McGrath
Posted July 11, 2012 at 9:02 p.m.

For the first time since 2005, California's foreclosure rate in June was the highest in the nation, pushed up by an 18 percent year-on-year increase in the number of properties entering the foreclosure process.

Irvine-based RealtyTrac said there were foreclosure filings on one in 288 housing units in California in June, or 47,490 filings total. There were 197,834 foreclosure filings on properties in the U.S. in June

Filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

In the first six months of 2012, there were just over 1 million foreclosure filings in the U.S., according to RealtyTrac. The number represents an 11 percent decrease in activity compared with the first six months of 2011.

June also marked the 21st consecutive month of a decline in U.S. foreclosure rates, RealtyTrac said.

While national foreclosures dropped by 3.96 percent in June compared with May, California foreclosures rose by 12.42 percent, according to RealtyTrac.  Read the full article here