Lenders foreclosed on 34,121 Oregon homes in 2009, three times more than in 2007 and well ahead of national trends.

According to year-end figures released late Wednesday by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc., there were 90 percent more foreclosure actions involving Oregon residences in 2009 than in 2008 and a whopping 303 percent more than in 2007, when the meltdown began.

The picture wasn’t any better nationwide, with nearly 4 million foreclosure filings against 2.8 million U.S. properties, 21 percent more than 2008 and 120 percent more than 2007.

The report showed that 2.2 percent of all U.S. homes or one in every 45 residences received at lease one foreclosure filing during the year.

“As bad as the 2009 numbers are, they probably would have been worse if not for legislative and industry-related delays in processing delinquent loans,” said James Saccacio CEO of RealtyTrac. “After peaking in July with over 3621,000 homes receiving a foreclosure notice, we saw four straight monthly decreases driven primarily by short-term factors: trial loan modifications, state legislation extending the foreclosure process and an overwhelming volume of inventory clogging the foreclosure pipeline.”

Nevada, Arizona and Florida had the nation’s highest foreclosure rates while California, Florida, Arizona and Illinois together accounted for half of all activity.

Oregon ranked 11th, with 2 percent of all homes affected, or one in 47.

Clackamas, Columbia, Deschutes, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine and Yamhill counties had Oregon’s highest foreclosure ratings.

Washington state ranked 24th, with 35,268 foreclosure actions, 132 percent more than in 2007.

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/01/11/daily33.html