More on the Coming Foreclosure Wave

From today's Press Democrat:

But a new wave of foreclosures is building. More county homeowners are falling behind on their mortgages, and some could lose homes to banks while others sell to avoid foreclosure. The latest data indicates 4.7 percent of mortgages in the county were 90 days or more late in March, up from 3.5 percent a year earlier, according to First American CoreLogic, a real estate research company.

Already, lenders have seized 2,970 homes in Sonoma County during the 12-month period through March, more than double from a year ago, First American CoreLogic reported.

A rising tide of foreclosed homes could wash over buyers if their numbers don’t grow to match the busiest years of the last home sales boom, Holmes said.

“If we have this much inventory and we’re not even keeping up with our peak year — even though prices are so much lower — it indicates we don’t have enough buyers,” she said.