“Among Maricopa County cities, Tolleson led with the largest percentage increase in foreclosures and pre-foreclosures during the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2007.

“Foreclosures in Tolleson were more than 600 percent higher while more than 300 percent more foreclosure notices were handed out. There were 352 foreclosures in Tolleson from January through June, compared with 46 for the same time last year.

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Source: “Tolleson, Litchfield Park have highest foreclosure increase” by Grayson Steinberg for the Arizona Republic. Copyright 2008.

Bloomberg.com’s Shobhana Chandra provides the full story:

“Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. rose 3.1 percent in July, a gain that masked further housing weakness as inventories of unsold properties increased.

“Resales advanced more than forecast to an annual rate of 5 million, with at least one-third of the purchases coming from foreclosed properties, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. At the same time, the median price dropped 7.1 percent from July 2007, and the number of homes for sale jumped to a record.

“Sales averaged a pace of 4.95 million the past three months, the same rate as the previous period, indicating that purchases may have touched a bottom. At the same time, the glut of houses for sale means property values will probably keep dropping, putting pressure on household wealth and consumer spending.

“‘Existing home sales have likely stabilized,’ Michelle Meyer, an economist at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in New York, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. ‘In terms of demand, we’re probably close to the bottom. In terms of prices, we don’t think we’ll see a bottom until the end of next year.’”

Read the full article, “U.S. Economy: Home Resales Rose More Than Forecast.” Copyright 2008 Bloomberg.com

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