Orange County's foreclosure threat grows. Increasingly, people are realizing that the housing market woes are not isolated events, but reflect an endemic fundamental problem in the world economy.

Simple economics teaches that supply and demand must establish an equilibrium in the market. For a long time, unimaginably easy "credit" conditions (mortgages established for no money down) created a massive real estate bubble.

Housing supply remains very high. Demand is decreasing, due to higher unemployment rates and a declining economy. Psychologically, more people are fearful about their economic futures.

Housing statistics try to predict future housing realities. One of these statistics is the Notice of Default (NOD), which is filed by the bank "after a homeowner misses three or more monthly payments."

This NOD is usually, the first step in foreclosure. Not all NODs foreclose, but higher NOD numbers reflect a higher future foreclosure possibility.

DataQuick, ForeclosureRadar.com and RealtyTrac.com all noted spikes in the NOD for August 2008, compared to July 2008. This suggests that O.C.'s foreclosure threat grows.

Orange County real estate still remains amongst the highest priced in the country. Market conditions demand lower prices to match demand.

Orange County homes have seen mortgage price reductions at foreclosure auctions of 30% in August 2008. This compares unfavorably to 3% (a year ago in August 2007) and 28% (a month ago in July 2008).

This shows that O.C.'s foreclosure threat grows.