More foreclosures were filed last month then in July, with an increase of almost 12%. In August, around 303,800 homes received at least one foreclosure notice, which means that one out of every 416 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing in August. At least the amount of increases of each specific month in comparison with the same month a year before is starting to decrease, June and July in comparison with the year before had 50% increases, but August only had a 27% increase. The chief executor of RealtyTrac, James Saccacio, attributed the lesser % of foreclosures for this August to the fact that in Aug. 2007, there was a huge amount of activity. He also said that, “The increases in default and auction activity could be slowing down partly as the result of new legislation passed in several states that is designed to give homeowners in distress more time before foreclosure proceedings are initiated,”. However, even though we are now seeing a slight halt to the past skyrocketing increases, these figures are still at their highest since RealtyTrac started making reports on foreclosures in January 2005.

RealtyTrac compiles data on auction sale notices, bank repossessions, and default notices. According to their data, repossessions by lenders were up almost 50% in August, going from 43,141 in Aug. 2007 to 90,893 in Aug. 2008. The top 3 states based on foreclosure rates were Nevada at number one, followed by California, and then Arizona. While Colorado, Georgia, and Ohio were in the top 10, they did report decreases.

Foreclosures occur more often now then in prior years due to low home values, more difficulty to obtain a loan, and a bad economy. Sellers owe a lot on their homes and cannot find buyers that can afford to buy or pay anyway near the home value. They also are not able to refinance with a more affordable plan. As more and more banks and mortgage investors get stuck with unsellable properties, they are lowering the prices even more to try and get rid of them, which only provides more complications.

Last Thursday, a group of Democratic senators made appeals to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that they freeze their foreclosures for 90 days. The senators said that Fannie and Freddie should make an effort to help the troubled borrowers obtain more affordable loans and maintain their homes. Moody´s Economy.com estimates that 2.8 million U.S. homes will confront foreclosure, hand their homes over to their lender, or sell their property for less then the mortgage value throughout the next year.