No letup in foreclosures

More than 1 million US households will probably lose their homes to foreclosure this year as lenders work their way through a huge backlog of borrowers who have fallen behind on their loans. Nearly 528,000 homes were taken over by lenders in the first six months of the year, a rate that is on track to eclipse the more than 900,000 homes repossessed in 2009, according to data released yesterday by RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing service. "That would be unprecedented,'' said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. The surge in home repossessions reflects a foreclosure crisis that remains a crippling drag on the housing market, despite having shown signs of leveling off in recent months. The number of households facing foreclosure in the first half of the year climbed 8 percent, versus the same period last year, but dropped 5 percent from the last six months of 2009, according to RealtyTrac, which tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions, and repossessions. In all, about 1.7 million homeowners received a foreclosure-related warning between January and June. That translates to one in 78 US homes.