Foreclosures

Real estate website Zillow.com has built a successful business out of telling online visitors how much your house is worth. Now it's telling the world whether you're in foreclosure. The company on Thursday launched a free feature that allows anybody searching for homes to view those that aren't listed for sale but are headed that way because of financial distress. Nosy neighbors will be able to see if a homeowner has defaulted on the mortgage and by how much, whether a house has been taken back by the lender, and what a house might sell for in foreclosure, among other things.

With millions of homes in foreclosure - and millions more owners having difficulty paying their mortgages - there's likely to be one in every neighborhood: the property that has gone to seed. Maybe the lawn next door that you once envied has turned brown or the flower beds have been overtaken by weeds. Or perhaps the grass hasn't been cut in weeks and the house is surrounded by what looks like a wheat field. If the neighborhood eyesore has been abandoned, the house itself has probably deteriorated.

The number of Californians entering foreclosure dropped in the third quarter to its lowest level since early 2007. Foreclosure filings have fallen as banks work toward completing more loan modifications and short sales. An improving economy and rising prices have also helped. “Prices in most areas today are up significantly from their low point in early 2009,” John Walsh, president of San Diego real estate firm DataQuick, said in a news release. “Additionally, during the past year, we've seen short sales overtake the foreclosure process as the procedure of choice to deal with homeowner distress.” Notices of default fell 10.2% from the prior quarter and were down 31.2% from the same period last year, DataQuick reported.

Housing is snapping back faster than many economists had expected, with home builders stepping up production of new homes nationally and fresh foreclosures in California falling to their lowest level since the early days of the bust. Demand for housing has surged as interest rates have plummeted and home prices in many markets appear to have bottomed, particularly in states such as California where inventories of foreclosures and other lower-priced homes have sunk. The turnaround in prices and record-low supply of newly built homes also are luring builders back after six years of pain.

Foreclosures started in California have dropped to the lowest level since early 2007, the latest sign that the housing market is rebounding faster than analysts expected. Join us for a live video chat on the state of real estate in California and the nation at 3 p.m. PDT with Times real estate editor Nancy Rivera Brooks and consumer columnist David Lazarus. We invite you to join in on the conversation by posting comments and questions below. LIVE VIDEO DISCUSSION: Join us at 3 p.m. today Notices of default fell 10.2% from the previous quarter and were down 31.2% from the same period last year, San Diego-based DataQuick reported Wednesday.

It's getting pricier to buy a home in California, with fewer properties on the market and a hike in demand this year. Sales of homes in California fell last month, even as prices continued to rise, according to real estate firm DataQuick. A big driver of the increase in the median - the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less - is a change in the types of homes selling. The state's inventory of cheaper homes has dropped dramatically this year as investors are competing with first-time home buyers and move-up buyers are buying more expensive homes.

Southern California's median home price climbed in September to a high not seen in more than four years as sales declined and foreclosure deals plummeted, the latest sign that the housing business is becoming increasingly competitive. Foreclosed homes made up just a sixth of the Southland's resale market last month, the lowest level in nearly five years and a major reason that the area's housing market has snapped back so rapidly, real estate firm DataQuick reported Friday. The decline in foreclosures and other affordably priced homes comes as record low mortgage interest rates have sparked strong demand for housing.

Foreclosed homes made up just a sixth of the Southland's resale market last month - a level not seen in nearly five years and a major reason the market is rebounding so rapidly. Foreclosures accounted for just 16.4% of the resale market in September - a substantial decline from the same month last year when foreclosures accounted for 32.3% of the market, real estate firm DataQuick reported Friday. The decline is even more significant when compared to the worst of the region's foreclosure crisis, in February 2009, when foreclosed properties made up 56.7% of resales.

Competition for lower-priced homes in California is so hot that the number of cheaper homes available for sale has sunk more than 40% in the last year, pushing out many would-be buyers. Homes that sold for $313,200 or less were the most competitive type of home nationally, but nowhere did inventory in that price range drop more than in the Golden State, according to a report released Thursday by real estate website Zillow. In some parts of the Inland Empire, the supply of homes on the market is down to about a month's worth, real estate agents say. Economists typically consider a six-month supply to be a healthy market.

WASHINGTON -- Foreclosure filings fell in September to their lowest level in more than five years as a housing market rebound showed another sign of taking hold. Substantial decreases in California and some other states hard-hit by the collapse of the housing bubble helped reduce filings to 180,427 last month, down 7% from August and 16% from a year earlier, according to foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac. The last time filings were that low was in July 2007. Filings for the three-month period ending in September also were the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2007.