A total of one million home shave been foreclosed last year increasing the foreclosure percentage by 63.5% compared to 2007. The US Foreclosure Index shows a 67% increase in the rate of pre-foreclosure filings in 2008 compared to the 2007 data.  This means that up to 2.1 million pre-foreclosure actions have been implemented last year to include notice of default or auction which are done prior to foreclosure.

As of December 2008 the number of foreclosed properties has reached a total of 97,841 which is a 19.3% increase from the 82,033 homes foreclosed in November. However, the peak foreclosure month for last year was September and the December foreclosure rate is a 6.1% decrease compared to the September data.

Pre-foreclosure activities also slowed down a bit in the two months prior to December but peaked during the holidays by 11.9%. This could mean that Americans can expect lots of foreclosed homes during the first months this year due to the increased pre-foreclosure activities last month.