Foreclosures rose slightly in October

• Tweet

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. online real estate firm RealtyTrac said Thursday that foreclosures rose September to October, but fell compared with October 2011.

RealtyTrac said there were 186,455 default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions in the month, which is 3 percent more than September, but 19 percent lower than October 2011.

One out of every 706 U.S. homes were in some stage of foreclosure in the month.

RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said foreclosure activity was skewed by Hurricane Sandy.

"Unfortunately, the three states dealing with the biggest rebound in deferred foreclosure activity -- New Jersey, New York and Connecticut -- also had to deal with the devastation to homes inflicted by Superstorm Sandy," he said.

The massive hurricane plowed through three states with the larges annual increases in foreclosure activity, including New Jersey with activity up 140 percent, New York with activity up 123 percent and Connecticut with activity up 41 percent, RealtyTrac said.

"The foreclosure moratoriums being put into effect as a result of the storm will likely extend the already lengthy time to foreclose in these states, further prolonging a fundamentally sound housing recovery," Blomquist said.