According to RealtyTrac Inc. the Dallas-Fort Worth area has the dubious distinction of leading the nation in foreclosures with one foreclosure for every 319 households. This is more than 5.5 times the national average.

Following are the top five foreclosure states according to this article :

1. Texas 9,672
2. Florida 9,506
3. New York 3,024
4. Arizona 2,386
5. Pennsylvania 1,790

According to the West Virginia Gazette, West Virginia foreclosures are at a 40 year high. Here is an interesting snip from the article: A West Virginia bill passed in the Legislature this year requires high schools to start teaching students the basics of personal finance, initiating them into the mundane world of balancing checkbooks, paying off loans and sweating out investments. Just seven other states have such a requirement.

These courses have long been offered as high school electives in West Virginia, but now they'll be covered in the core curriculum, mandatory for graduation starting with the class of 2008.

That's not a semester too soon, if you ask Treasurer John Perdue, a longtime proponent of such legislation. "Too many kids are graduating from high school who don't know how to balance a checkbook," Perdue said. "And sometimes the credit card companies are getting to them while they're still in high school."

Meanwhile check out the volume of transactions in three California counties: San Mateo -18.7%, Santa Clara -11.7%, Santa Cruz -23.8%. Will volume lead price down? I think so.

According to foreclosures.com Speculators are cashing out of Las Vegas Housing Market. "Investors represented over 25% of home sales in 2004," said Foreclosures.com president Alexis McGee. "Foreclosures averaged just 607 per month for the first quarter of 2005. Now speculators have cut down on buying and are cashing out." Falling prices and rising foreclosures will follow in this writer's opinion.

Foreclosures.com is also reporting that although California Foreclosure Activity Remains Low, Pressure is Mounting.

This quote sums up my feelings on the precarious situation in California precisely. Alexis McGee, president of foreclosures.com said "We can't say when defaults will increase. We just see it coming."