Foreclosures in Phoenix hit 10-year high last month

PHOENIX — Foreclosures in metropolitan Phoenix hit a 10-year high last month, climbing 36 percent in August, the biggest jump so far this year.

The real-estate research firm Information Market says nearly 1,100 people lost their home last month, the first time foreclosures in the metro area have topped 1,000 in at least a decade.

Many more local residents are in danger of losing their homes. Notice of trustee sale filings, the precursor to a foreclosure, took their biggest jump this year. Those notices, filed when homeowners are at least a month behind, climbed 29 percent, to 3,203, in August.

Congress passed legislation Monday allowing the Federal Housing Administration to back refinancings for as many as 80,000 people behind on their adjustable-rate loan payments.