U.S. home foreclosure filings in April were up 65 percent from a year earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said. Home foreclosure filings in April totaled 243,353, up 4 percent from March, according to RealtyTrac, an online market of foreclosure properties. The figure includes home that have received default notices, those included in auction sale notices and homes repossessed by banks. “The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we've seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement. In March, home foreclosure filings had risen 5 percent from February. The rise in foreclosures is a sign that homeowners remain unable to keep up with their rising mortgage payments. Many are unable to sell their homes because their property would fetch less than the price of their mortgage. RealtyTrac said the national foreclosure rate in April was one foreclosure filing for every 519 U.S. households.
