Foreclosure Sales Decline In Riverside County

Foreclosure sales in Riverside County tapered off last month as the pace of filings slowed down, according to a real estate tracking firm.

Bay Area-based ForeclosureRadar.com’s “Foreclosure Report” shows that a total 1,546 repossessed properties were sold countywide in June, compared to 1,648 in May — a 6 percent drop.

According to the figures, the county’s foreclosure sales were also down 6 percent from a year ago, when 1,644 homes ended up on the auction block.

ForeclosureRadar.com founder Sean O’Toole attributed the decline to a general slowdown in foreclosure activity, with lenders taking longer to push ahead with sales. The average time from a notice of default — the first stage in the foreclosure process — to an actual repossession in California was 317 days, according to O’Toole.

“We do not see it as signaling an end to lenders looking to avoid losses that they can’t afford by continuing the extend and pretend policies of the past,” he said.

In California, 13,611 sales were recorded in June, compared to 15,454 in May, a 12 percent drop. Sales were up by less than 1 percent from June 2010.