Foreclosures up nationally, way down in Lousiana

An online foreclosure tracking database reports 272,109 properties entered some stage of foreclosure during the second quarter of 2006, a 25 percent increase over the same period last year.

RealtyTrac reports the nation's second-quarter foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure for every

Foreclosure filings in the second quarter of 2006 present a classic good news, bad news scenario, said James Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO. A 25 percent increase from the second quarter of 2005 obviously isn't a positive trend. But despite some of the sensational reports we've seen, foreclosure filings have actually slowed down since peaking in February.

Foreclosures dropped 16 percent from May to June, going from 92,746 to 88,195.

Colorado had the highest second-quarter foreclosure rate with one home out of every 158 in the state entering default. The lowest rate was found in Vermont, where one in 19,635 homes in foreclosure.

Louisiana's second-quarter rate was one in 5,022, although foreclosures climbed from 81 in April to 158 in May and then dropped to 136 in June. The 375 foreclosures in Louisiana from April 1 to June 30 were down 76 percent from its second quarter 2005 figure. Extended forebearance on mortgages following last year's hurricanes is credited for keeping homeowners out of default.

On the national level, low unemployment and home price appreciations in most housing markets is keeping foreclosures in check, said Saccacio.

We expect that if the summer months deliver their typically high number of home buyers, the demand for housing created by these buyers should help keep foreclosure rates from rising too rapidly, he said.