U.S. Foreclosure Pace Slows

August rate declines, possibly presaging an end to the housing crisis.


The subprime mortgage crisis seemed to ebb a bit on Main Street America as foreclosures ebbed a bit in part due to efforts made by state governments and lenders.

On Friday, real estate data firm RealtyTrac reported Friday that the number of Americans in some stage of foreclosure increased by 12.0% in August from July and 27.0% from a year earlier. Though the firm said that 1 in every 416 U.S. homeowners are on the verge of losing their abodes, the year-over-year increase was was actually substantially lower than in previous months, when it was hovering around 50-65%.

“Over the past few months, we’ve seen annual increases in default activity and auction activity moderating, and that trend continued in August, with default activity up just 10.0% from a year ago and auction activity up 7.0% from a year ago,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac.

Read whole story here>