Drop in foreclosures

Home foreclosures plunged 26 percent in the San Fernando Valley during March from a year ago, the first annual drop since they started escalating in mid-2006, a research center said Monday.Gregory J. Wilcox in the Daily News.

The news was welcomed by Realtors, but California State University, Northridge researchers said foreclosures could pick up again on a recent surge in default notices and the worsening jobs picture.

"While foreclosures are down, we do not yet see them as out," said William Roberts, director of CSUN's San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center.