Foreclosure Activity Increases 4% in April, According to RealtyTrac(r) U.S. Foreclosure Market Report

Foreclosure Activity Up 65 Percent From April 2007

IRVINE, CA – May 14, 2008 – RealtyTrac® (http://www.realtytrac.com/), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its April 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 243,353 properties, a 4 percent increase from the previous month and a nearly 65 percent increase from April 2007.

(For a detailed city-by-city copy of RealtyTrac's news release, please contact Heather Pond, Atomic Public Relations, (415) 402-0230, heather@atomicpr.com)

The report also shows one in every 519 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month.

. "The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we've seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005," said James J. Saccacio, (top right photo) chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

"Although only about 2 percent of households nationwide are in foreclosure, these properties contribute to already bloated inventories of homes for sale, and put downward pressure on home values. Areas of California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona continue to be particularly hard-hit. Property tax bases are eroding, putting municipal budgets in peril.

"For example, the city council in Vallejo, (map at right) California - part of a metropolitan area with a foreclosure rate that ranked sixth highest in the nation in April - last week voted to have the city file for bankruptcy."

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1.5 million properties from over 2,200 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal