California Mortgage Defaults Fall to 3-Year Low

DQNews -- "The number of California homes pushed into the formal foreclosure process between April and June dropped for the fifth consecutive quarter to the lowest level in three years. The declines were greatest in the most affordable areas, where foreclosure activity continues to fall from extremely high levels over the past two years.  Highlights include:

1. A total of 70,051 Notices of Default (NODs) were filed at county recorder offices during the April-to-June period. That was down 13.6% from 81,054 for the prior quarter, and down 43.8% from 124,562 in second-quarter 2009. 

2. Last quarter's total was the lowest since the second-quarter of 2007, when 53,943 NODs were recorded. The peak was in first-quarter 2009 when 135,431 homeowners received foreclosure notices.

3. Foreclosure resales accounted for 36% of all California resale activity last quarter. It was down from a revised 42.5% the prior quarter, and down from 49.9% a year ago. The peak was 57.8 percent in first-quarter 2009."
 
MP: This news about California defaults falling to a three-year low, and to a level in 2010:Q2 of about half of the level in 2009:Q1, suggests that the real estate problems in California and other markets are "slowly fading," and confirms some commentary about the economy in general from Scott Grannis, who writes today that:
 
"The economy's problems are slowly fading.....   Jobs are now being created, albeit slowly, but they are no longer being destroyed. Those who are working are doing just fine, as productivity has been quite healthy. Much of the world is doing pretty well, and some places, like China and India, are growing like weeds. Commodity prices show no sign of flagging demand. The yield curve is very steep, and that makes it easy for bank profits to mushroom; plus, a steep yield curve has been a very reliable predictor of recoveries."