Second month of the year sees decline in foreclosures

The housing market got a bit of good news recently, as RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure numbers were down in February.

According to the company, the number of foreclosure filings reported in the second month was down 2 percent when compared to January. In all, 308,524 foreclosure filings were recorded in February.

However, when compared to February of last year, foreclosure filings are still up 6 percent. James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, said that increase was the smallest amount on a year-to-year basis recorded by the company since January 2006, the time when it began to keep track of that data.

He also said that the lower number may not be the result of fewer consumers being in trouble, but of things like legislation and foreclosure prevention programs.

"In addition, severe winter weather appears to have temporarily slowed the processing of foreclosure records in some Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states," Saccacio said.

Another thing that may drive foreclosures is the number of people who are jobless. However, the government recently reported that the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.7 percent in February.