RealtyTrac: New Foreclosures Fall

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif., has reported that the number of new properties entering some stage of foreclosure fell 5% in June, although it was still higher than that of a year earlier.The company's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report indicates that 88,195 new foreclosure properties were added to the rolls in June, down 17% from the level recorded in June 2005. "New U.S. foreclosures dropped to their lowest level of the year in June, despite some of the sensational and misleading figures that we've seen reported recently," said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive officer. "We think it's irresponsible to present falsely inflated numbers to the media for commercial gain as we've seen happen recently. The fact is that most states, with the notable exception of California, Ohio, and Nevada, reported decreased numbers of foreclosure filings in June." The company said Colorado recorded the highest foreclosure rate of any state for the fourth consecutive month in June, although it actually declined 12% from the level in May. RealtyTrac can be found online at http://www.realtytrac.com.