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Despite the many programs gearing up or in place to help homeowners resolve problems with their mortgages, foreclosure related activities continued to increase in January. But, perhaps partially because of these programs, the rate of increase appears to be slowing from the pace of previous months.

In a report released Tuesday, RealtyTrac®, a company that provides foreclosure data to a number of media markets, stated that foreclosure filings which include default notices, auction sales notices, and bank repossessions increased 8 percent in January from the December numbers. One year ago the January figure was 19 percent higher than that for December.

There were a total of 233,001 properties against which foreclosure actions were taken during the month; 45,327 of these homes were actually repossessed by the lender, 90 percent more than in January 2007.

The January 2008 filings increased nearly 57 percent over January 2007. Last month's report revealed that the December pace of filings was 7 percent higher than the month before but nearly double the figure in December 2006.

RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said "January's foreclosure numbers demonstrate that foreclosure activity is continuing on its upward trend, substantially increasing from a year ago in many states. However, the 8 percent monthly increase in January is not as precipitous as the 19 percent spike we saw in January of 2007, and several key states actually experienced decreasing foreclosure activity from the previous month. It could be that some of the efforts on the parts of lenders and the government - both at the state and federal level - are beginning to take effect. The big question is whether those efforts are truly helping homeowners avoid foreclosure in the long term or if they are just temporarily forestalling the inevitable for many beleaguered borrowers."

Nevada, in spite of the fact that foreclosure activity decreased 45 percent from December, still had the highest foreclosure rate in the country with 6,087 actions, a 0.597 rate. California, Florida, Arizona, and Colorado rounded out the top five.

In actual number of foreclosure actions, California led all other states. Filings were reported on a total of 57,158 properties in the state in January. This was a 7 percent increase from December and 120 percent higher than one year earlier. Florida's activity was down 3 percent from the previous month but the state was still second in the nation with 30,178 filings. This figure was 158 percent higher than one year earlier. Texas, Ohio, Michigan, and Georgia each had more than 10,000 actions reported during the month.

San Fernando Real Estate Agents are hoping that with the conventional loans going up that the market will get a shot in the arm. The President signed an increase in the conventional loan but Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac are still trying to figure how it will work.

Buyers don't realize that even though there are alot more foreclosures coming on the market the banks are still trying to get fair market value for the properties. The banks are not giving them away!

Reuter's news agency was announcing late Thursday morning that the U.S. economic stimulus package being hammered out in Congress would include a temporary up tick in the size of loans that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae would be allowed to purchase.

Republicans on the Hill have agreed to raise the current loan limit of $417,000 for a single family home for one year although there is not yet agreement on how high the limit should go. Proponents, who feel that a higher ceiling would be one way to add liquidity to the mortgage market, frequently mention $625,000 as a new loan limit.

It looks as though Congress has also agreed to a tentative deal to allow tax rebates of $300 to $1200 per family and enact business tax cut to get the economy moving again.

One of the rumored compromises behind the package was an agreement on the part of Democrats to drop increases in food stamps and unemployment benefits in return for gaining rebates for virtually everyone earning a paycheck, perhaps a minimum of $3000 per year, even if they do not make enough to pay income taxes. The Republican proposal would have limited the rebates to taxpayers.

The minimum rebate to those eligible is likely to be $300 with an additional $300 for each child with a family limit of perhaps $1,200. Eligibility would be capped by income of maybe $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for couples.

Rebate checks would probably not arrive until probably June.