The foreclosure rate for March 2009 hit a new record high of 803,489 properties, or one in every 159 housing units, according to a RealtyTrac report. Foreclosures rose by 17 percent over one month, from February to March, and by 46 percent since March 2008.
The report indicated that bailout money received by banks and new legislation advertised as providing relief for homeowners did nothing but delay new foreclosure filings. According to James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, a company that maintains a foreclosure database of more than 1.5 million foreclosed housing units, “The number of households that received a foreclosure filing [in March] was more than 12 percent higher than the next highest month on record.”
The rise in foreclosure filings undercut empty predictions by the Obama administration that the housing and construction markets are showing “glimmers of hope.” Home construction dropped to the second-lowest level on record in March, and business lending continued to drop by 24 percent at 21 banks that have received over $211 billion in bailout funding.
