Foreclosure activity in Utah continued to pick up speed in November even as aggressive loan-modification programs and holiday moratoriums by some lenders slowed foreclosures in other parts of the country, according to RealtyTrac, which released its November data Wednesday.

That's largely because foreclosures -- which typically lag an economic downturn by nine months to a year -- only began picking up in Utah in June, said Daren Blomquist, marketing communications manager of RealtyTrac, a company that tracks the foreclosure market nationally.

States like Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida, which are driving the national average for foreclosure filings, began seeing sharp increases in foreclosures as early as the second and third quarter of 2007.

"Utah is behind the national cycle on foreclosures. It'll see more pain before things turn around," Blomquist said. Statewide, the number of Utahns facing foreclosure jumped 104 percent to 2,003 in November from a year ago, and up 11 percent from October, according to RealtyTrac.

Its report covers filings including default notices, notice of trustee sales and bank repossession notices.

In Utah County, the number of foreclosure filings in November jumped 71 percent to a total of 275 compared with the same period a year ago, but are down 15 percent from October, the company said. Nationally, foreclosure activity in November dropped to the lowest level since June, with 259,085 properties receiving a foreclosure-related filing, according to RealtyTrac. That's up 28 percent from a year ago, but down 7 percent from October.

RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio attributed the slowdown to recently enacted laws that have extended the foreclosure process in states including California, New York, Massachusetts and North Carolina. In California, a law that went into effect in early September requiring a 90-day written notification before a notice of default can be recorded has made a big difference in the number of foreclosures being filed.

"But a one-month drop isn't indicative of a trend unless it continues for the next four to five months," Blomquist said.

Temporary lull

Most analysts warned that the slowdown may just be a temporary lull as the number of foreclosures are expected to spike again once the moratoriums expire early next year. Already, there are signs that loan delinquencies are on the rise, with the rate of homeowners in foreclosure or falling behind on their mortgage payments jumping to an all-time high in the third quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Nationally, the share of mortgages 30 days or more overdue jumped to 6.99 percent, while loans already in foreclosure climbed to 2.97 percent. Utah's delinquency rate also jumped in the third quarter to 4.97 percent, while loans in foreclosure rose to 1.43 percent, the association's latest report said.

Also worrying is data from the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, which found that more than half of the homeowners nationally who received loan modifications to reduce their monthly mortgage payments in the first half of the year are again delinquent on their loans.

"Many of these delinquencies could turn into foreclosures next year," Saccacio said.

Blomquist said he believes that the loan modification programs aren't aggressive enough. "Mortgage payments have been lowered but are still above what some of those homeowners can afford," he said.

But modifying loans may be tricky in areas where home values have fallen hundreds of thousands of dollars from levels a few years ago. That's because many borrowers have low-paying jobs and poor credit and may not be able to afford even a modified loan at a fixed rate under strict lending standards.

"It's not impossible to get over-extended again because these homeowners could be losing their jobs, taking a pay cut or suffered illness, making it difficult for them to make their payments," said Tom Cook, an attorney with Salt Lake-based Lundberg & Associates.

He said his law firm is closing on fewer foreclosures in Utah this month because many of his lender clients have moratoriums in place for the holidays.

But he said he expects foreclosure activity to pick up again starting the week of Jan. 12-16 when most of the moratoriums are due to expire.

"There's not much someone who is four or five months behind on their mortgages can do in an extra 45 days. Most properties we foreclose on are owner-occupied. The moratorium allows people who'll probably never be able to make ends meet stay in their home for another month," Cook said.

Utah now has the ninth-highest rate of foreclosure filings, with one out of every 450 households receiving foreclosure filings in November. That's well above the national average of one out of every 488 households. In Utah County, one out of every 484 households received such filings in November.

Utah still in better shape

Even though Utah's foreclosure rate is climbing faster than the national average, its housing market is better equipped to absorb these foreclosures and recover, Blomquist said. "Utah's housing market isn't as out of whack in demand and supply as some of the other states. Home prices here didn't escalate as much as in California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida, and Utah didn't see the volume of new homes built in those states."

As a case in point, existing home sales appear to be picking up in Utah County, despite rising foreclosure numbers.

In the third quarter, Utah County's home sales were at 1,100, down just 1 percent from a year ago, according to data from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors. That compares with a 26-percent drop in home sales year-on-year in the second quarter, a 40-percent drop in home sales year-on-year in the first quarter, and a 46-percent drop in home sales year-on-year in the fourth quarter 2007.

"Foreclosed home sales are still a small percentage of the market, but it's a growing percentage," said Taylor Oldroyd of the Utah County Realtors Association.

But with Utah's economy just starting to lose jobs, and more losses are expected over the next year, the foreclosure problem may get worse in the coming months, some economists said.

"Our local economy is just starting to fall into the same hole as the rest of the country," Cook said. "But if the Treasury does modify interest rates [on newly originated 30-year fixed mortgages] to 4 percent or 4.5 percent, you'll see a levelling off in foreclosures because people can refinance again at those levels. Most homeowners now can't qualify for refinancing either because their loan-to-home value is upside down because home prices have dropped, or they've lost their job."