Foreclosures back on the rise

PHOENIX - If it seems like there are a large amount of foreclosed homes in the Valley your eyes are not deceiving you.

According to RealtyTrac's Daren Blomquist, Arizona's latest foreclosure numbers are up nearly 10 percent.

"It's ranked number four out of the states in terms of foreclosure rate and its foreclosure rate is well-above the national average," he said.

Blomquist said nearly 15,000 Arizonans entered into foreclosure in November and he does not expect the numbers to decrease in the near future.

"Unemployment and many people have negative equity in their homes as well as there are still a lot of problem loans out there, so that's still driving foreclosures," he said.

Blomquist said there are more programs in place to try and help people get into modified loans and avoid foreclosure.

Nationally, the number of homeowners on the brink of foreclosure fell in November, the fourth straight monthly decline.

Nearly 307,000 households, or one in every 417 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice in November, down 8 percent from a month earlier, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. Banks repossessed about 77,000 homes last month, down slightly from October.

Millions of borrowers are still being evaluated for the Obama administration's foreclosure prevention effort. States are also trying to delay the foreclosure process, temporarily lowering foreclosure numbers.

But the foreclosure crisis is likely to get worse before it gets better.

"We don't really believe the underlying problems have been resolved," said Rick Sharga, senior vice president at the Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listing service. Many borrowers, he said, "simply aren't going to qualify" for help.

Foreclosure filings were still up 18 percent from a year ago, and a new wave is expected next year as unemployment remains high and borrowers fall out of loan modification programs.

Nationwide, a report Wednesday showed only about 10,000 homeowners received permanent loan modifications this fall under the Obama administration's mortgage relief plan, more evidence of serious failings in the government's effort.

Elizabeth Warren, chair of a watchdog panel, told reporters that the program is ``not working'' and that it had failed to make a dent in the record level of foreclosures. More than 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are either late on their payments or in foreclosure, and that number is expected to keep rising as unemployment remains stubbornly high.

The Treasury Department is expected to release updated figures Thursday, but data through October showed that fewer than 5 percent of homeowners who completed the trial periods had their mortgage payments permanently lowered to more affordable levels

Under the program, eligible borrowers who are behind or at risk of default can have their mortgage interest rate reduced to as low as 2 percent for five years. They are given temporary modifications, which are supposed to become permanent after borrowers make three payments on time and complete the required paperwork, including proof of income and a hardship letter.

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