While there are some signs of better days ahead, foreclosure filings in New York, Florida and much of the Midwest keep on climbing. With less than a month left in 2006, already the Empire State’s 26,424 filings are up 13% over the 23,383 for all of 2005. Quarter to quarter filings are up almost 8%, too—7,449 fourth quarter to date vs. 6,904 in the third quarter, according to numbers from ForeclosureS.com, a California-based real estate investment advisory firm and publisher of foreclosure property information. Despite a modest drop in energy prices, 107,579 Florida property owners have resorted to foreclosure so far this year, up nearly 13% from 95,269 for all of 2005 – and the year isn’t over just yet. Boosting those numbers are filings in the southeastern coastal counties like Miami-Dade and Broward, according to ForeclosureS.com. In the U.S. Midwest, economic fallout from massive cuts by the nation’s sagging automakers helped fuel foreclosure filings in the nation’s midsection during the fourth quarter of the year. With less than a month left, the Midwest Region’s 193,737 foreclosure filings already are up 61% from 2005’s total 120,298 filings. The Midwest region includes Indiana, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois. Elsewhere in the U.S., however, the foreclosure outlook is brighter quarter to quarter, with high population states like New Jersey and Massachusetts showing slight drops so far. With the exception of the Midwest region, most regions in the country displayed a decrease in quarterly foreclosure filings, although annual totals remain high relative to 2005. “With less than a month left in 2006, we’re seeing real estate markets stabilize. The market correction is waning,” said Alexis McGee, president of ForeclosureS.com, which has been analyzing housing markets since 1992. “Last month former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan was right when he said the worst is behind us,” added McGee. “Weak housing markets aren’t over yet, but they’re getting stronger with the help of a drop in unsold inventories and interest rates at 45-year lows.” For more information, visit http://www.foreclosures.com/.

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