Oh My! Foreclosures Up 35%!

AP:
"A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report.

RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday that the number of U.S. homes taken over by banks jumped 35 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. In addition, households facing foreclosure grew 16 percent in the same period and 7 percent from the last three months of 2009.

More homes were taken over by banks and scheduled for a foreclosure sale than in any quarter going back to at least January 2005, when RealtyTrac began reporting the data, the firm said."

Hmm, not what would cause this? The AP reported that these are the homes that the government intervention prevented banks from taking after the 2008 financial meltdown.

So it was the government stepping in and "helping" that has now lead foreclosures to jump 35% from last year.