One in every 296 L.A. County households was in foreclosure last month, a 69 percent increase from a year earlier. The RealtyTrac numbers put L.A. in the middle of the pack among California counties, ranking 27th. OC ranked 32nd (the statewide rate was 1 in 218 homes). From the Business Journal:

New laws extending the foreclosure process in some states, along with better loan modification programs and self-imposed foreclosure moratoriums by some lenders, have helped slow the rate of increase, but RealtyTrac forecasters expect higher unemployment rates will cause rates to pick up by January. Chief Executive James Saccacio noted that delinquencies on loans not yet in the foreclosure process jumped to nearly 7 percent in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.