Peninsula-area foreclosure filings hit a new high last month. In March, 379 foreclosure filings were reported on properties on the Peninsula and Middle Peninsula and in Isle of Wight County, according to RealtyTrac, a national foreclosure-monitoring service. That's up 43 percent from March 2009. March's total beat the previous record of 361 filings reported in February and November.
March was also a record-breaking month for foreclosures nationally. Filings were up 8 percent from March 2009, according to the report.
Meanwhile, home sales also surged in March, as time runs out on federal home-buying tax credits. Seasonally adjusted existing-home sales were up 16.1 percent in March, compared to March 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors. Seasonally adjusted new-home sales were up 26.9 percent from March 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The national foreclosure statistics pushed the number of bank-owned properties to the highest quarterly total on record, RealtyTrac reported. Bank-owned properties are foreclosed properties that fail to sell at auction.
