Americans unable to stop foreclosure, which rose 7 percent in July

08.15.09
By Timothy Jones

Although many economists say the economy is beginning to improve, many homeowners in the U.S. would tend to disagree as new figures show that foreclosures increased 7 percent in July, with one in every 355 U.S. homes receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.

According to RealtyTrac, July's foreclosure figures mark a new high for the housing market and are up 32 percent over July 2008's numbers, as 360,149 properties were foreclosed on last month.

The problem continues to plague homeowners in the west as Arizona, California and Nevada - states once leading the housing boom - top the list in foreclosure filings. RealityTrac notes that these three western states along with the number four area on the list, Florida, account for half of the foreclosures in the country.

Nevada leads the nation in foreclosures for the 31st month in a row with figures showing that the state saw one out of every 56 homes file for foreclosure last month - more than six times the national average and a 94 percent increase over July 2008.

James J. Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, says that American homeowners are struggling to stop foreclosure even with help from the government.

"July marks the third time in the last five months where we've seen a new record set for foreclosure activity," he said. "Despite continued efforts by the federal government and state governments to patch together a safety net for distressed homeowners, we're seeing significant growth in both the initial notices of default and in the bank repossessions."

Earlier this month the U.S. Treasury said it was on track in its effort to help stop foreclosure for 3 million to 4 million homeowners by February of 2010. The government figures showed that more than 400,000 home loan modification offers had been made and more than 230,000 trial modifications had begun.

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An increasing number of Americans are facing foreclosure and the prospect of handing over their keys