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US property foreclosures reach a record high

One in 416 home owners in the US got a default notice in August, according to the latest figures from Realty Trac, the California based seller of foreclosure data. It is the highest monthly figure since records began in January 2005.

Bank seizures, the last stage of the foreclosure process, have more than doubled from a year ago. Defaults have risen 10% in the last year and auctions are up 7%, the figures show.

Nevada had the nation's highest foreclosure rate for the 20th consecutive month, with one in 91 households in some stage of default. California had the second-highest rate, one in 130 households. Arizona had the third-highest rate at one in 182 households, followed by Florida, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, Illinois and Indiana.

The worst US housing slump since the 1930s shows little sign of abating. Property prices in 20 metropolitan areas fell by 15.9% in June from a year earlier, according to the S&P/Case- Shiller index.

Prices may fall another 10% by the end of 2009, according to analysts at Lehman Brothers. They say falling property prices have made it harder to sell or refinance homes to pay off mortgages.

There are 3.9 million unsold family homes, the most since at least 1982, according to the National Association of Realtors.

There is hope that a new federal housing law designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure may start slowing the rate of increase of defaults and auctions.

'The question now is whether these measures will actually reduce foreclosures or simply cause a temporary lull in foreclosure activity,' said James Saccacio, Realty Trac's chief executive officer.

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