Banks discount O.C. homes 30% at foreclosure auctions. This was the average of the total number of 1,166 home loans sold. Of these, there were 1,048 or 90% that received some discount in their mortgage value.

The Orange County real estate market remains troubled. The severity of the housing troubles is reflected in the fact that 238 properties saw mortgage values reduced more than 50%. Somewhere, there were gross errors in housing valuations.

Increasingly, a number of problems are rearing their ugly head. All of these financial problems have been swept under the rug for far too long. They are all seeping out together.

Many households are choosing between paying off one debt or another. Credit cards carry higher interest rates than most mortgages, so some households are paying off credit cards first.

According to TransUnion, the 60-day late mortgage rate increased to 3.9% in the second quarter. The 90-day credit card delinquency rate was only one-fourth as high. This shift in financial priorities has mirrored the housing downturn, since previously people made their mortgage payments before paying off credit card debt.

Increasingly, there is a sense of desperation. Iceland declares bankruptcy over some of the same problems in the United States housing market. People wonder when the housing market will recover.