Home Foreclosures in 2010 Top 1 Million for First Time

Banks seized more than a million U.S. homes in one year for the first time last year, despite a slowdown in the last few months as questions around foreclosure processing arose, Reuters reported today. Banks foreclosed on 69,847 properties in December, bringing the year's total to 1.05 million, topping the prior record of 918,000 homes seized in 2009, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said. The number of foreclosure filings, which includes default notices, auctions and repossessions, was a record 2.9 million last year, including 257,747 filings in December. December filings were 2 percent lower than November and 26 percent lower than December 2009. The firm said Nevada, Arizona and Florida continued to post the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Five states—California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan—accounted for more than half of all foreclosure activity. In 2005, before the housing bust, banks took over just about 100,000 houses, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based company.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70C0YD20110113