Foreclosures increase by 800 percent

Foreclosures soared an annual 799 percent in Los Angeles County and California in the second quarter - a record 17,408 homeowners couldn't make their mortgage payments and lost their property in the state. Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

In the county, 2,581 properties went into foreclosure, up from 287 a year ago, DataQuick Information Systems reported Tuesday.

Parts of the booming Inland Empire area were hit even harder, with foreclosures jumping 986.9 percent.

"The housing industry is in a recession, pure and simple, and it's going to last until 2009," said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

Foreclosures are important to state and local governments as impacting a major source of revenue to operate programs.