NEVADA FORECLOSURE STARTS INCREASING BUT STILL BELOW THE NUMBERS FROM A YEAR AGO

In Clark County, there were 1,115 notices of default,filed in January, up 13.5 percent from the prior month,but a dramatic 80% decrease from 5,695 in January 2011, an online service reported.

A total of 1,345 homes went back to bank in January, a 44.6 percent increase from the previous month and a 40.4 percent decrease from the same month a year ago.

Nevada still posted the nation's highest foreclosure rate for the 61st month in a row.

Most economists associate high foreclosure rates with high unemployment, but that is not the case in Nevada, said a spokesman for the online service.

"Clearly, unemployment is not helping the foreclosure crisis, which is about prices that were unsustainable.I think the banks just don't want to admit that stupid lending practices are the primary driver of foreclosures. We will be clearing that mess up whether unemploymentis or low."

The decline in new foreclosures is the result of a recent Nevada law to force lenders to prove ownership.

With a foreclosure time frame of more than 8 months,there is little chance of a predicted wave of foreclosures
this year.

Another online service disagrees -- "the 25 billion dollar settlement just enacted will accelerate the foreclosures this year, and it will accelerate the process of lenders catching up on the backlog of foreclosures."

"We project that foreclosures will rise 25 percent this year to one million homes. Last year, lenders took back 804,000 homes."

Real-estate owned or bank-owned, inventory has decreased 50% from a year ago. That is bringing multiple offers on foreclosures priced under $250,000.

All told, 210,941 U.S. homes received a default notice, were scheduled for auction, or were repossessed by a lender in January. The foreclosure rate translates to one in every 624 U.S. households.

A credit rating agency also anticipates foreclosures will rise nationally this year but not right away, as it will take some time for lenders to make sure they are complying with the rules of the settlement.