by Calculated Risk on 4/16/2007 02:55:00 PM

From DataQuick: California Foreclosure Activity Jumps Again

The number of default notices sent to California homeowners last quarter increased to its highest level in almost ten years, the result of flat appreciation, slow sales, and post teaser-rate mortgage resets, a real estate information service reported.

Lending institutions filed 46,760 Notices of Default (NoDs) during the January-to-March period. That was up by 23.1 percent from a revised 37,994 for the previous quarter, and up 148.0 percent from 18,856 for first-quarter 2006, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the annual Notice of Defaults filed in California. The year 2007 is estimated at four times the first quarter rate.

So far defaults haven't had much of an impact on price, but price declines are most likely coming. As DataQuick noted:

While foreclosure properties tugged property values down by almost 10 percent in some areas ten years ago, the effect on today's market is negligible ...

So far.