The number of foreclosures in the United States rose 81 percent in 2008, with one in every 54 households getting at least one filing notice, RealtyTrac reported on Thursday. Nearly 3.2 million foreclosure filings on 2.3 million properties were made last year, according to the research company. Filings include notice of default, auction sale or bank repossession. “Clearly the foreclosure prevention programs implemented to date have not had any real success in slowing down this foreclosure tsunami,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in the report. Foreclosure activity did slow in the fourth quarter, down 4 percent from the third quarter, but jumped nearly 40 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007. Foreclosure activity last year was up 225 percent from 2006 and home prices have fallen more than 20 percent from the summer of 2006, according to Standard & Poor;s/Case-Shiller measures. Filings rose by 17 percent in December from November.
