A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace. The number of U.S. homes taken over by banks jumped 35 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. In addition, households facing foreclosure grew 16 percent in the same period and 7 percent from the last three months of 2009. More homes were taken over by banks and scheduled for a foreclosure sale than in any quarter going back to at least January 2005.
The United States is on pace to more than 1 million bank repossessions this year.
Nationwide, more than 900,000 households, or one in every 138 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice.
States with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter 2010:
Nevada one in every 33 homes received a foreclosure-related notice during the quarter.
Arizona one in every 49 homes.
Florida, one in every 57 properties.
California one in every 62 properties.
About 231,000 homeowners have completed loan modifications as part of the Obama administration's flagship foreclosure prevention program through March. That's about 21 percent of the 1.2 million borrowers who began the program over the past year. But another 158,000 homeowners who signed up have dropped out — either because they didn't make payments or failed to return the necessary documents. That's up from about 90,000 just a month earlier.
Last month, the administration expanded the program, launching a plan to reduce the amount some troubled borrowers owe on their home loans and give jobless homeowners a temporary break. But the details of those programs are expected to take months to work out.
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