Here's an article I read, very interesting information. The article states that even thogh foreclosure rates are down we deffinitely are NOT out of the danger zone. 

The number of homes going back to mortgage lenders dropped 21.5 percent in September compared to August, according to Foreclosures.com, a Fair Oaks-based foreclosure information company.

"Despite what some other data aggregators are saying, the big news is that many states, including some typically hit hard by rising foreclosures, actually saw a drop in the number of people who lost their homes to foreclosures last month," says Alexis McGee, president of Foreclosures.com.

According to the figures compiled by the company, September saw 30 states reporting a drop in REO filings from August and one was unchanged. An REO (real-estate owned) filing is the final stage in the foreclosure process in which a property that does not sell at foreclosure auction reverts back to the bank or lender.

The foreclosure leaders with declining numbers, according to Foreclosures.com's calculations, were:

• California -- down 14.24 percent)

• Colorado (down 57.97 percent)

• Florida (down 14.18 percent)

• Michigan (down 21.13 percent)

• Ohio (down 29.22 percent)

• Texas (down 1.65 percent)

"These new numbers are in stark contrast to what have been staggering month-to-month increases in foreclosures virtually nationwide," says Ms. McGee. "Year over year, of course, the numbers of foreclosures - per capita and actual filings - are up as reported in the majority of states. Given all the real estate and credit market turmoil of the past year, that's not unexpected."

She says the mortgage meltdown has not yet run its course.

"The foreclosure crisis isn't over - far from it. Per capita and year to date plenty of homeowners still haven't and won't be able to extricate themselves successfully from escalating mortgage debt and have or will lose their homes to foreclosure as a result," she says.

So far this year, on a per capita basis five out of every 1,000 households -- nearly 400,000 properties nationwide -- have been lost to foreclosure. That compares with 3.6 foreclosures per 1,000 households (285,826 filings) a year ago, according to ForeclosureS.com reports. Per capita can be a measure of the real impact of housing market trends, the company says.

"Those numbers will keep rising, too, as hundreds of thousands of ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) continue to reset this year and next and leave homeowners with crippling and inescapable debt," Ms. McGee says.

She sees some positive developments.

"As mortgage markets stabilize, investors and lenders who had been scared away by August's subprime lender implosion slowly are returning to the market. For homebuyers that means greater liquidity - the availability of more money to lend," she says.

"Another bright spot is the recent introduction of FHASecure, the federal government-sponsored program to give qualified subprime borrowers an affordable refinancing alternative to foreclosure.

"It all is beginning to add up to a light at the end of the foreclosure tunnel," says Ms. McGee.