Completed foreclosures totaled 8,205 inrnthe fourth quarter, up 2.2 percent from the 8,030 recorded in the third quarter.  The third and fourth quarters recorded thernlowest and second lowest numbers of completed foreclosures respectively in thernlast seven years.  Foreclosures in thernfourth quarter were down 61.2 percent from the fourth-quarter 2012. Thernall-time peak was 79,511 foreclosures in third-quarter 2008. </p

Both NODs and foreclosures remained mostrnconcentrated in the more affordable communities. Zip codes with 2013 medianrnsale prices below $200,000 collectively saw 2.0 homes foreclosed on inrnfourth-quarter 2013 for every 1,000 homes within their borders, and NODs filedrnon every 3.1 homes. That compares with 0.8 foreclosures and 2.0 NODs per 1,000rnhomes for zips with $200,000-to-$800,000 medians, and 0.2 foreclosures and 0.7 perrn1,000 homes for the group of zips with $800,000-plus medians. </p

Lenders are still working through loans originatedrnfrom 2005 to 2007.  DataQuick said thernmedian origination quarter for loans on which NODs were filed is the thirdrnquarter of 2006.  This has been the casernfor more than four years</p

Homeowners were a median of 8.7 monthsrnbehind in payments on senior liens for which NODs were filed during the quarterrnand owned a median of $20,066 or a mortgage with a median size ofrn$302,000.  NODs were filed on home equityrnloans and lines of credit with a median past due of $5,491 on a median creditrnline of $68,770.  No information wasrnavailable on the outstanding balances on those credit lines.<br /<br /On average it took lenders 9.0 months from the NOD until the foreclosure processrnwas completed in the fourth quarter. rnThis timeline was virtually unchanged from the prior quarter and onernyear earlier.  The most active “beneficiaries”rnin the formal foreclosure process last quarter were Wells Fargo (3,287), JPrnMorgan Chase (1,182) and Nationstar (1,096). </p

Sales of homes that were foreclosedrnwithin the previous 12 months accounted for 6.7 percent of all Californiarnresale activity last quarter and short sales for 12.5 percent.  That was down from 7.7 percent and 13.5rnpercent respectively in the third quarter and 16.6 percent and 25.8 percent arnyear earlier.   An estimated 40.0 percentrnof foreclosed properties bought at auction during the quarter were bought byrninvestors or others that don’t appear to be lender or government entities. Thatrnwas down from an estimated 48.0 percent the previous quarter and 41.8 percent arnyear earlier. </p

The median price paid for a Californiarnhome was $364,000 in the fourth quarter, up 22.1 percent from $298,000 a yearrnearlier. The median has risen more than 20 percent on a year-over-year basisrnfor the last five quarters. It peaked in second-quarter 2007 at $485,500 andrnhit bottom at $235,000 in second-quarter 2009, DataQuick reported.

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