Foreclosures Up 75% in 2007

The number of foreclosures soared in 2007, with 405,000 households losing their home, according to a report released recently.  That's up 51 percent from the 268,532 homes that were repossessed in 2006.

Total foreclosure filings soared 97% in December alone compared with December of 2006, according to RealtyTrac, an online seller of foreclosure properties.  For the year, total filings – which include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions – grew 75%.

More than 1 percent of all U.S. households were in some stage of foreclosure during 2007, up from 0.58 percent the year before.

The increase in foreclosures has come about despite very low interest rates, as well as government, private enterprise and community advocate efforts to forestall the worst of the problems.

This is because sales are very slow in many housing markets and prices are down, leaving many troubled borrowers unable to sell in order to repay their mortgage debts.