Orange, L.A. County Home Foreclosures Take a Dive

Bolstering hopes of a budding real estate recovery, home foreclosures in Los Angeles and Orange counties fell to among their lowest levels in a year, a real estate data firm reported Thursday.

In Orange County, where 912 homeowners went into foreclosure in November, the number marked the second-lowest total in two years. In Los Angeles, where 3,784 homes headed into foreclosure the same month, the number was the lowest since September 1995.

“Orange County seems to be emerging from real estate doldrums faster than the rest of the state,” said John Karevoll, an analyst with DataQuick, which monitors real estate activity nationwide.

The numbers contrast with overall state figures that saw November foreclosures rise 1.5% compared with a year earlier. In November, 12,257 California homeowners entered foreclosure, while 12,080 did so in November 1995, according to DataQuick.

Southern California Realtors, who have seen the market sputter toward recovery for years, welcomed the news. Real estate analysts say foreclosure activity exerts the greatest single influence in keeping home prices down.

“We’ve been up and down for quite some time and, hopefully, we’ve bottomed out,” said Jim Joseph, a Century 21 real estate broker based in La Mirada. “I think it’s a plus psychologically and may add to a cumulative effect of encouraging fence sitters to jump into the market.”

In both Los Angeles and Orange counties, foreclosure proceedings in November tumbled by nearly a fifth compared with the previous month. Foreclosures in November dropped 19.5% from the previous month in Orange County and slid 18.9% in L.A. County.

In Orange County, foreclosures dropped by nearly 20% when comparing November with the previous November. Los Angeles County logged about a 4% drop over the same period.

Foreclosures for both counties peaked in March, with L.A. County recording 5,005 and Orange County recording 1,620.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Foreclosures Ease

Orange County mortgage foreclosures have generally eased since the large numbers recorded during the first four months of this year. November’s 912 was the second lowest monthly total since January 1995. Here’s the county’s 13-month trend:

1995

Nov.: 1,136

Dec.: 1,227

1996

Jan.: 1,440

Feb.: 1,425

March: 1,620

April: 1,345

May: 1,082

June: 907

July: 1,107

Aug.: 1,093

Sept.: 923

Oct.: 1,133

Nov.: 912

Larger Picture

The high first-quarter foreclosure totals in Orange County generally mirrored Southern California and statewide conditions. Driven by those large four-month totals, foreclosures for 1996’s first 11 months are up substantially statewide; Orange County’s increase ranks in the middle of Southern California picture. Foreclosure increase from 1995 to 1996 for January through November:

Los Angeles: 26%

Orange: 18%

Riverside: 14%

San Bernardino: 6%

San Diego: 20%

Ventura: 27%

California: 33%

Source: Acxiom/DataQuick