Good morning, Netizens...

The news wires this morning are all citing a sharp increase in the number of American bank real estate foreclosures this morning, some stating the increase is as high as 55 percent in the month of July. California was first by number of foreclosures with 72,285 in July, up 5 percent from June and 85 percent on a year ago. Foreclosures in Florida rose 14 percent from June and 139 percent from a year earlier to claim the second highest number of properties, at 45,884. Ohio was third with 13,457 filings, up 2 percent from June and 1 percent from July 2007. Texas, Georgia, Nevada, Illinois and New York also were in the top 10 for foreclosure filings.

Foreclosure filings -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- rose 8 percent from June and 55 percent from July 2007 to 272,171, according to RealtyTrac, which records property in various stages of foreclosure. (Source: Reuters)

By comparison, Spokane County is ranked fifth, with 159 properties listed as being in foreclosure with King County leading the state with 599 foreclosures, followed by Pierce at 534, Snohomish at 291 and Clark at 260.

Dave

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