Real estate industry watchdog RealtyTrac reports that 325,229 homeowners in the U.S. received a notice of default, auction or bank repossession in July, an increase of four percent from the previous month, but down ten percent from foreclosure numbers from July 2009. RealtyTrac estimates that one in 397 American households received notice in July. This is a staggering number, but not as staggering as the 92,858 homes lenders seized from homeowners delinquent on their mortgages that month. This number represented the second-highest number of foreclosures since RealtyTrac began tracking this in January 2005. Rick Sharga, Senior Vice President of Marketing at RealtyTrac, offered a theory about the rise in foreclosures, saying, “The numbers are exploding due to unemployment and economic displacement. We will see them get a lot worse unless we see some job creation.” One can find the evidence of Mr. Sharga’s grim forecast for foreclosures and job losses in newspapers, websites and communities across the country. Jobless claims for the first week in August climbed by 2,000 to 484,000, the highest in six months, according to the Labor Department. Official unemployment figures are at 9.5 percent, close to a 27-year high, but the actual number of jobless people in the country is substantially higher. The Labor Department does not include the long-term unemployed who have given up trying to find a job in their official estimates, an excluded figure estimated in the millions. While the Louisville real estate market isn’t immune to the economic downturn, our foreclosure figures aren’t nearly as dire as those in many other metropolitan areas around the country. Property values rose steadily in the years before the recession, but not as steeply as they did in markets that are now among those suffering the worst foreclosure rates. If you’re looking at Louisville homes for sale to buy as your primary residence or as an investment, near-record low interest rates make now the best time in decades to buy. For the area’s best selection of Louisville homes for sale, browse our listings and call the experts at Louisville Properties today at 502.744.9504!