SAN DIEGO COUNTY – The number of San Diego County homes slipping toward foreclosure dropped by 44.7 percent in the second quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2009, a real estate information service reported July 21.

Lenders sent default notices to 5,458 homeowners in San Diego County in the second quarter, down from the previous year’s second-quarter total of 9,866, according to La Jolla-based MDA DataQuick.

Statewide, default notices were sent to 70,051 homeowners in the second quarter of the year, DataQuick reported. That was a 13.6 percent decrease from the previous quarter’s 81,054 notices and down 43.8 percent from the same quarter in 2009, when 124,562 default notices were sent.

The total was the Advertisement

[ Berry-Bell and Hall Mortuary ] lowest since the second quarter of 2007, when 53,943 default notices were sent.

"Obviously, motivated sellers and accommodating lenders have played a part in bringing the default filings down, especially when it comes to short sales,’’ said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president. "Public policy has also been a factor. We also need to remember that prices have come up off bottom over the past year.

"If they continue to rise, fewer homeowners will find themselves under water, which is a significant factor in letting a home go," he said.

Default notices do not always lead to a home foreclosure, according to DataQuick. Some homeowners emerge from the foreclosure process by bringing their payments current, refinancing or selling the home.