Foreclosure filings were reported on 222,740 U.S. properties in June, an increase of nearly 4 percent from the previous month, but a decrease of 29 percent from June 2010. June was the ninth consecutive month where foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis. Default notices, scheduled auctions and REOs were all up on a month-over-month basis, but down on a year-over-year basis in June.

“Processing and procedural delays are pushing foreclosures further and further out – we estimate that as many as 1 million foreclosure actions that should have taken place in 2011 will now happen in 2012, or perhaps even later,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.  “This casts an ominous shadow over the housing market, where recovery is unlikely to happen  until the current and forthcoming inventory of distressed properties can be whittled down to a manageable number.”

California registered the nation’s third highest state foreclosure rate, with 1.96 percent of its housing units (one in 51) receiving a foreclosure filing during the six months.  A total of 263,500 California properties received a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2011, the nation’s highest total, but down 13 percent from the previous six months and down nearly 23 percent from the first half of 2010.  California foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis for the 19th straight month in June, but default notices and REOs increased on a month-over-month basis, continuing a sawtooth pattern in the monthly numbers.