Lake Elsinore And Wildomar Foreclosure Filings Up

In January, foreclosure rates in Lake Elsinore and Wildomar trended worse than Riverside County as a whole, according to data from a real estate tracking firm.

One in every 68 homes in Lake Elsinore received a foreclosure filing in January; filings for Wildomar during the same period were one in every 104, Irvine-based RealtyTrac reported today.

Countywide, the data showed that one in 114 households entered some stage of foreclosure during January.

According to RealtyTrac, Lake Elsinore currently has 1,483 homes (total) in foreclosure; Wildomar has 507.

Overall, the number of Riverside County properties slipping into foreclosure increased last month, RealtyTrac reported.  

A total 6,819 mortgage default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions were recorded countywide in January, roughly 3 percent more than in December, according to RealtyTrac, although filings were down about 2.5 percent compared to a year ago.

Stanislaus County ranked No. 1 in foreclosure filings; San Joaquin County was just behind Riverside at No. 3; Calaveras County was No. 4; and Madera County was No. 5, according to RealtyTrac.

California ranked third nationally in foreclosure activity during the first month of the year, with 67,072 filings. The number of defaults increased around 2 percent from December and dropped about 7 percent from a year ago, figures indicated.

Nationwide, there were 261,333 filings, a 1 percent increase compared to the prior month and a 17 percent decline from January 2010, according to RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio.

“We've now seen three straight months with fewer than 300,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings,'' he said. “Unfortunately, this is less a sign of a robust housing recovery and more a sign that lenders have become bogged down in reviewing procedures, resubmitting paperwork and formulating legal arguments related to accusations of improper foreclosure processing.''

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate, followed by Arizona, with Idaho just behind California at No. 4, and Utah at No. 5. --City News Service contributed to this report.