California foreclosure homes for sale are still among the country's highest in number in September and in the whole third quarter of this year, based on data released by a foreclosure tracking firm.
In September, California had more than 86,300 foreclosure filings and in the third quarter, it posted more than 250,000 foreclosure actions. The postings in September marked an increase of more than 24 percent from the same month last year and a drop of more than 6 percent from August while postings in the third quarter marked a nearly 19 percent rise from the same quarter last year and a 1.52-percent drop from the April to June quarter.
California is also one of the six states - along with Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan - that comprised 62 percent of the country's total foreclosure postings in the July to September quarter. These six states accounted for nearly 580,000 residential properties that received foreclosure postings in the third quarter.
In California, there were more than 16,300 units already repossessed by lenders in September, increasing the number of California foreclosure homes for sale to nearly 51,000 units in the July to September quarter.
With a foreclosure rate of one out of every 53 households in the third quarter, California ranked third in the chart of states with the biggest rates. Nevada had the highest rate, with one out of every 23 households in the foreclosure process. Arizona followed with one out of every 53 households getting hit with a foreclosure notice.
In September, California ranked second in foreclosure rate, next to top-ranking Nevada and followed by Florida and Arizona.
In addition to problems of risky mortgage loans taken by homeowners, the rising unemployment rate of California is being cited by analysts as a major reason for the continued high level of foreclosures throughout the state.
In September, a total of 39,300 employees were laid off, based on a report from the California Employment Development Department. The number marked an increase of almost six times compared to the numbers of workers laid off in August.
The state unemployment rate has soared to 12.2 percent in September, far above the 7.8-percent jobless rate in September last year and far above the national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent. Most of the job cuts in September occurred in the construction and government sectors.
