More Foreclosure Filings Feed Housing Crisis

Foreclosure filings are increasing, and the housing crisis is worsening because of them. Year-end data from RealtyTrac shows that 2010 was the worst year yet -- specifically 23 percent worse than 2008, the first year of the recession. Douglas Mcintyre of our sister site, DailyFinance.com, sifts through the data to draw some valuable conclusions.


The housing crisis is getting worse. There has been a great deal of evidence to support that. Real estate research firm RealtyTrac has reported that 2010 was particularly bad. The company's Year-End 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows "a total of 3,825,637 foreclosure filings -- default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions -- were reported on a record 2,871,891 U.S. properties in 2010, an increase of nearly 2% from 2009 and an increase of 23% from 2008." The report also indicates that "2.23% of all U.S. housing units (one in 45) received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, up from 2.21% in 2009, 1.84% in 2008, 1.03% in 2007 and 0.58% in 2006."