RealtyTrac: New Foreclosures Decline

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif., has reported that the number of new properties in some stage of foreclosure declined 4.3% in August after two consecutive months of increases.The company's Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report indicates that 75,599 new foreclosure properties were added to the rolls in August. "After consecutive months of increasing foreclosures, the rates across the country seem to have stabilized in August," said Jim Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive officer. "But it appears that the overall decrease in national foreclosures may be somewhat inflated due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina." The company said Texas and Florida "continued to dominate" the foreclosures market, accounting for more than 30% of the nation's total. RealtyTrac can be found online at http://www.realtytrac.com.