Cheap mortgages are over, but foreclosures go on

NEW YORK - The days of the absurdly low mortgage rate are over.

The average rate for a 30-year home loan rose above 5 percent this week for the first time since last April - just as Americans are feeling more secure in their jobs and confident about the economy, and just before the big spring home-buying rush.

Freddie Mac said yesterday that the average rate was 5.05 percent, almost a full percentage point higher than in November, when it hit a 40-year low.

Analysts expect that rising rates will continue through the end of the year, to about 5.5 percent. The next few months are the busiest for the housing market - about one in three home sales happens in the spring. Meanwhile, the volume of foreclosure filings fell 17 percent in January compared with the same month a year earlier, but the decline was attributed to a backlog that built after widespread criticism forced lenders to review their foreclosure procedures.

Filings rose 1 percent compared with December, according to a report released yesterday by RealtyTrac, which tracks data on foreclosure properties.

"We've now seen three straight months with fewer than 300,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings, following 20 straight months where the total exceeded 300,000," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a news release.

But don't get too excited. "Unfortunately, this is less a sign of a robust housing recovery and more a sign that lenders have become bogged down in reviewing procedures, resubmitting paperwork and formulating legal arguments related to accusations of improper foreclosure processing," Saccacio said.

In January, 261,333 homes, or one in every 497 housing units, received a foreclosure filing, according to RealtyTrac.

Of those, 75,198 properties received default notices, 108,002 properties were scheduled for auction for the first time and lenders foreclosed on 78,133 properties.