Drop in California foreclosures

Fourth-quarter notices of default fell 16.2 percent from the previous three months and 17.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Dataquick. L.A. filings were down 14.5 percent from a year earlier, OC was down 21 percent, Riverside 25.1 percent. The question, of course, is how much of the decline was due to a lessening of household distress and how much was due to bank scandals that have slowed down the processing of papers. Most likely, a little of both. From press release:

While most of the loans that went into default last quarter were originated during the 2005-2007 period, the median origination quarter for defaulted loans remained third-quarter 2006. That has been the case for over a year, indicating that weak underwriting standards peaked then.

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The concentration of defaults remains much higher in lower-cost areas: Last quarter, zips with medians of $200,000 or less collectively saw 11.3 default notices filed per 1,000 homes. That compares with just 2.8 default notices filed per 1,000 homes in zips with $800,000-plus medians, and 8.0 filed per 1,000 homes for all zips statewide.

NOTICES OF DEFAULT
County/Region 2009Q4 2010Q4 Yr/Yr%

Los Angeles 16,595 14,188 -14.5%

Orange 5,555 4,388 -21.0%

San Diego 6,536 4,917 -24.8%

Riverside 9,188 6,885 -25.1%

San Bernardino 7,290 5,744 -21.2%

Ventura 1,657 1,470 -11.3%

San Francisco 465 435 -6.5%

Alameda 2,806 2,660 -5.2%

Contra Costa 3,501 2,931 -16.3%

Santa Clara 2,816 2,325 -17.4%

Santa Cruz 346 293 -15.3%

Santa Barbara 589 509 -13.6%

San Luis Obispo 436 364 -16.5%

Monterey 874 632 -27.7%

Source: Dataquick