Local Foreclosure Sales Shoot Up 11% In One Month

Foreclosure sales in Riverside County shot up in August compared to the previous month, but remained near the same level of a year ago, according to a real estate tracking firm.

Bay Area-based ForeclosureRadar.com’s monthly “Foreclosure Report” showed that 2,073 repossessed properties were auctioned off countywide in August, compared to 1,862 in July — an 11 percent increase.

According to the report released Tuesday, 2,100 foreclosure sales were recorded in the county a year ago, about a 1 percent difference compared to the August figures.

Statewide, 17,841 properties ended up on the auction block last month — 16 percent more than in July, but little changed from a year earlier, according to ForeclosureRadar.com.

The company’s founder, Sean O’Toole, said notices of default filings — the first step in the foreclosure process — have been rising steadily in California over the last four months as financially distressed homeowners have been unable to find relief.