3rd drop in foreclosures hints at recovery; state-by-state chart

Foreclosures fell for the third-consecutive month in October, another sign the worst of the housing crisis may be past.

RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., real estate firm, reports Thursday that foreclosure filings totaled 332,292 last month, down 3% from September but up 19% from a year earlier. The figure means that one of every 385 homes received a foreclosure notice in October.

CHART:Foreclosures across the USA

"It looks like it's leveling out," says Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J. "We're not seeing further deterioration in the housing market."

RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said that the third-straight monthly drop was unprecedented and perhaps a sign "that the foreclosure tide may be turning" but warned that "the fundamental forces driving foreclosure activity in this housing downturn – high-risk mortgages, negative equity and unemployment – continue to loom over any nascent recovery."

Four states – California, Florida, Illinois and Michigan – accounted for 52% of last month's foreclosures.

Seven of the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the worst foreclosure rates were in California: Vallejo-Fairfield; Modesto; San Bernardino ; Bakersfield ; Merced; Stockton; and Sacramento.

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