'Close to 500,000 Foreclosed on in 1H '08'

Almost a half-million Americans lost their homes to foreclosure in the first half of 2008, nearly double the same time a year ago, according to ForeclosureS.com, Sacramento, Calif."If the trend continues, we could see one million properties lost to foreclosure across the country by year-end," said Alexis McGee, president of ForeclosureS.com. The company said REO filings at the end of June, at 87,465, were up 5.35% over May, and up 15.76% compared to the second quarter of last year. The second quarter saw 244,230 filings vs. 210,980 filings for the first quarter of 2008. California leads in REO filing numbers: with 116,857 filings, followed by Florida with 43,744 filings, and Arizona with 40,639 filings. The company reported June REO filings dropped in the Midwest and the Northeast. There were 15,494 June filings, down 3.19% from May's 16,005 in the Midwest. In the Northeast, REO filings were 2,686 in June, down 7.51% from May's 2,904 filings; and in other states there were 136 June filings, up 23.64% from May's 110 filings. ForeclosureS.com said pre-foreclosure filings already have surpassed the one million mark with 1,060,187 filings as of June 30.