Experts Advise Keeping an Eye on Foreclosure Numbers

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The new year is just barely two months old, and already the mortgage industry experts says the foreclosure trends for the U.S. in 2006 bear watching.. According to data released by Foreclosure.com, 91,905 foreclosed properties were available for sale in the U.S. just in December - an increase of 12.7% from November. The total number of new foreclosures listed for sale in December - 24,124 - increased 7.7% from the previous month. These increases, said Foreclosure.com, are the highest month-to-month increase of both new and total foreclosures since March 2005. Broken out by regions of the U.S., the South - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas - led the U.S. with a 17.4% increase in new foreclosures from November to December and a 9% increase just in new foreclosures over the same period. The Midwest region showed the second highest percentage increases, followed by the Northeast and West regions, respectively. Foreclosure.com President/CEO Brad Geisen said while "it is premature to predict that December's inventory indicates a foreclosure crisis in the U.S., this rise in inventory, which is higher than in recent years, should be closely monitored as 2006 begins."