After a slowdown in January, foreclosures in San Diego spiked back up to 11% in February.  This uptick is being viewed as business as usual, as the January crawl can most likely be attributed to a self imposed slowdown by the mortgage industry.

It is reported that roughly 1,230 homes were listed as foreclosed in February. Even though this is a significant month-over-month spike, it is a 6.4% decrease when compared to February 2008.  There is speculation that the recent increase in foreclosure activity is in part due to the legislative process that has delayed homes from being foreclosed, resulting in a flooding of the market with foreclosed homes.

What is concerning is that there are close to 3,500 notices of default in San Diego county, which marks the start of the foreclosure process.  This is the highest total since 1992 when firms began collecting data on foreclosed properties.  In terms of percentage of notices of default, there was an increase of 24 percent over January, and 17 percent over February of 2008.

A recent review of ZIP codes within the county displayed the top five foreclosure areas to be the area of Nestor with 55; North Oceanside 92057 with 54; South Chula Vista 91911 with 50; East Escondido 92027 with 46; and Encanto 92114 with 44. In terms of per home foreclosure, the highest ranking was West Vista 92083, with 34.

Statewide, the foreclosure activity is still on the rise and following a similar trend that San Diego is experiencing.