Valley foreclosures down by 39 percent

Foreclosures in the San Fernando Valley plummeted 39 percent during August from a year earlier but will likely remain a drag on the housing market as long as unemployment remains high, a research center said Monday. Gregory J.Wilcox in the Daily News.

The region saw 564 home foreclosures last month, down from 922 a year earlier and 617 in July, according to the Valley Economic Research Center at Cal State Northridge.

Center director William Roberts said foreclosures have previously been concentrated in the central and northeast Valley but are now spreading to more affluent areas as unemployment soars.