September 15, 2007 (LPAC)--According to the August report by ForeclosureRadar.com, a company tracking the foreclosure crisis in California...the county with the highest per capita foreclosure rates for August was Riverside County in the Inland Empire, where there was one foreclosure sale for every 1,514 persons in the county. Over the month of August there were 9,477 properties sold at auction, with loan value of $3.86 billion, a 10.4% increase of the previous month. Of those, 95% went back to the lender. ForeclosureRadar.com found that non-owner-occupied properties accounted for over 44% of the auctioned properties, with a value of $1.71 billion. These represent the growing numbers of speculators bailing out of their overpriced mortgages.

According to Sean O'Toole, CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com, "Many blame subprime lending for our current real estate crisis, but rampant speculation, even by those with great credit, played a leading role. The subprime market took the first hit.... Now that nearly half of foreclosures represent non-owner occupied properties, it is clear that speculators are walking away too." Over 90% of all foreclosure sales in California were for homes purchased or refinanced in 2005 and 2006.