Foreclosures

Cities in California, Florida and Ohio dominated the 25 U.S. metro areas with the highest home foreclosure rates, though rates jumped in most of the top regions during the third quarter, RealtyTrac said on Wednesday.

The rate of foreclosures in the United States will remain higher than normal for the next 18 months as the current home loan crisis plays itself out, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Friday.

Many less creditworthy borrowers may lose their homes when interest rates on a flood of adjustable-rate subprime mortgages reset next month.

The rate of home loans entering the foreclosure process rose to a record high in the second quarter of 2007, driven largely by failing subprime mortgages, an industry trade group said on Thursday.

Home foreclosures rose 9 percent in July from June and soared 93 percent from a year ago as states that once enjoyed a white-hot housing market are now seeing the greatest number of loan failures, a real estate survey reported on Tuesday.

U.S. home foreclosures fell in June after jumping to a 30-month peak in May, but default rates will escalate as a horde of mortgages resets at higher loan rates, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Thursday.