Foreclosures drop slightly in Silicon Valley, but remain near record high

Early data from Foreclosures.com shows initial foreclosure notices edging down slightly last month for Santa Clara County, from 1,381 notices issued in April to 1,058 issued in May. This is still an extraordinarily high rate of foreclosure; in May of 2006, by contrast, only178 homeowners received notices of default.

The chart below shows notices of default issued to Santa Clara County homeowners in each month for the past two-and-a-half years.


So far in 2008, 5,573 homeowners have received notices of default on their mortgages -- nearly one out of every 100 households in the county.

Even those who are not yet at risk of foreclosure are suffering the effects of a drop in home values as the housing bubble deflates -- translating to major losses in what for most middle-class families is their biggest asset: their home. Nationwide, the total equity Americans own in their homes dropped last quarter to its lowest point since the 1940s.