WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- The number of foreclosure filings in the United States fell 10 percent in January, real estate research group RealtyTrac said.
Default notices, auction sales and bank repossessions dropped to 274,399 during the month, CNNMoney.com reported Thursday.
Banks repossessed 66,777 homes in January and that showed improvement over December. But, foreclosure filings are still elevated, coming in 18 percent higher than January 2008.
RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James Saccacio said in a statement that suspensions of foreclosure activity by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and the Federal National Mortgage Association -- Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae -- and state efforts to forestall foreclosures has started to affect the number of filings.
"The extensive foreclosure efforts on the part of lenders and government agencies appear to have impacted the January numbers," he said.
