Notices of defaults (NODs) recorded in California for April 2010 amounted to 27,832, a downward trend from 33,139 in the prior month and 47,337 in the same month one year earlier. [For more information concerning NOD volume in California, see the April 2010 first tuesday article, NODs and Trustee’s Deeds: Grim signs of real estate’s present condition.]

Notice of trustee’s sales (NOTS) filings in California appear stabilized at the moment with 30,578 NOTS filed in April 2010, 34,071 in the prior month and 31,556 in April 2009, as reported by Foreclosure Radar. [For more information concerning NOTS volume in California, see the April 2010 first tuesday article, NODs and Trustee’s Deeds: Grim signs of real estate’s present condition.]

Foreclosure cancellations in California were up 32% since the beginning of this year, potentially caused by an increase in loan modifications and short sales. However, the increase in cancellations could also be due to extended foreclosure postponements and filing errors, both of which necessitate another NOTS to be filed. In April 2010, 14% of NOTS filed were on foreclosures that were previously cancelled.

first tuesday take: The general downward trend in NOD recordings is developing into a favorable sign for the moment.  However, the deluge of NOTS seems to be continuing unabated. Thus, we still sail on troubled waters – just ask the approximately 2.5 million underwater Californians that still have to decide what to do with their homeownership and dead-end mortgage debts .

Though the downward trend in NODs suggests that NOTS will begin to drop by the end of the year, critical readers shouldn’t be lulled into false optimistic complacency about real estate sales volume and prices picking up before another two or three years. The real estate game is still hyper-competitive during these recessionary years, and optimistic but rational agents will continue to distinguish themselves and succeed. [For more information regarding how to achieve under the new real estate paradigm, see the May 2010 first tuesday article, Looking through the window towards recovery: a real estate paradigm shift – Part I.]

Re: “Foreclosure Cancellations Continue to Climb,” from Foreclosure Radar