Foreclosures Jump 24%

March and first-quarter total filings were the highest monthly and quarterly totals on record. Repossessions fall 3%.

By Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com contributing writer
Last Updated: April 16, 2009: 7:32 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Foreclosure activity skyrocketed in March and the first quarter of 2009 to their highest levels on record as banks lifted moratoria on filings.

Total foreclosure filings - which include default papers, auction sale notices and repossessions - reached 803,489 in the first quarter, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac, on online marketer of foreclosed properties. That is a 24% jump over a year earlier and a 9% increase compared to the previous quarter.

Of those filings, 341,180 happened in March - a 17% increase from February and a 46% jump from March 2008.

The March and first quarter numbers were the highest monthly and quarterly totals since RealtyTrac began reporting in January 2005.

"In the month of March we saw a record level of foreclosure activity - the number of households that received a foreclosure filing was more than 12% higher than the next highest month on record," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement.

"Since much of this activity was in new foreclosure actions, it suggests that many lenders and servicers were holding off on executing foreclosures due to industry moratoria and legislative delays," he added.

The one bright spot in the report was that fewer homes were lost to bank repossessions in March and the first quarter, falling 3% from February and 13% from the previous quarter, the report said.

Foreclosures have hit the economy hard. Housing prices have plummeted and some homeowners are severely underwater - meaning they owe more than their homes are worth. That can remove the incentive to keep up with mortgage payments.

Amid mass layoffs and pay cuts, soaring unemployment is a bigger reason for missed mortgage payments than high interest rates, according to a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

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