State Home Foreclosures Fall 13.2% in ’97

The number of California homes falling into foreclosure in 1997 decreased 13.2% from the previous year to 162,597, according to Acxiom/DataQuick Information Systems, a La Jolla-based real estate research firm. DataQuick started monitoring notices of default--the first step in the foreclosure process--in 1992, when 100,573 were recorded. The number had increased every year since then until 1997. Some of the steepest declines last year were recorded in Orange and San Diego counties, where foreclosure activity dropped by about 33%. Los Angeles County saw a decline of about 20%. Foreclosures are expected to continue declining this year as home prices rise, according to DataQuick.