Foreclosures Fall to 9-Year Low in Quarter

The number of homes entering foreclosure in California fell to a nine-year low in the fourth quarter, depressed by ever-increasing median-home prices here, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based real estate information service. Lenders initiated foreclosure proceedings on 20,668 homeowners from October to December last year, down 16.8% from the fourth quarter of 1999. Foreclosures have fallen on a year-over-year basis since early 1997. Last quarter’s number was the lowest since the first quarter of 1992, when 18,806 notices of default were recorded. The steepest decline in foreclosures in the fourth quarter was in the Bay Area, which reported a 27.1% drop. In Southern California, foreclosures fell 14%. In 2000, homes in most Southern California regions regained the value they lost during the region’s last recession in the mid-1990s.