California foreclosures at 15-year peak
The number of California homes going into foreclosure jumped last quarter to its highest level in more than 15 years as the market continued to work its way through declining home values and a pool of at-risk mortgages originated in 2005 and 2006, a real estate information service reported.
Lending institutions sent homeowners 113,676 default notices during the January through March period, up by 39.4 percent from 81,550 the previous quarter and up 143.1 percent from 46,760 in the year-ago quarter, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
Last quarter's number of defaults was the highest in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1992.
Most of the loans that went into default last quarter were originated between August 2005 and October 2006 cash advance today. The median age was 23 months, up from 16 months a year earlier.
On primary mortgages, California homeowners were a median five months behind on their payments when the lender started the default process. The borrowers owed a median $11,474 on a median $346,750 mortgage.
On home equity loans and lines of credit, homeowners were a median eight months behind on their payments. Borrowers owed a median $3,512 on a median $60,000 credit line.