A forecast from RealtyTrac has anticipated that a record three million homes in the U.S. will be repossessed in 2010, reports Bloomberg. The projection follows 2.82 million foreclosures in 2009, the highest in the five-year history of the record. RealtyTrac estimates that 2010 will see over 4.5 million filings, building on the 3.96 million filings last year. In the fourth quarter of 2009, foreclosures were 18 percent higher than the same period the year before, but fell 7 percent from the third quarter.
Many analysts expect this year to be the “peak year,” citing high unemployment and a rising number of underwater mortgages. Government programs aimed at preventing foreclosures and modifying mortgages are falling short, reaching only 1 percent of the four million loans targeted. According to a Treasury official, fewer than half of the 3.2 million homeowners said to be eligible for government relief actually qualify.
