(California) State mortgage default rates at eight-year high, firm says

[MindPilot]

By Emmet Pierce
STAFF WRITER

January 25, 2007

Home mortgage loans throughout California went into default last quarter at the highest rate in more than eight years, the DataQuick Information Systems research firm reported yesterday.

Lenders sent notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process, to 37,273 homeowners during the fourth quarter. It was a rise of nearly 37 percent from the previous quarter and an increase of 145 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005, said DataQuick analyst John Karevoll.

(snip)

California mortgages were least likely to go into default in Marin, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties during the fourth quarter, and most likely to go into default in Merced, Riverside and Tulare counties, Karevoll reported.

Regarding that "strong" economy, it's interesting to note that red counties are seeing the highest rates of foreclosure while the blue counties have the lowest.