Areas in California like Merced, Stockton, Modesto and Vallejo-Fairfield that continue to be ranked in the top 10 for foreclosure activity nationwide saw declines which can be attributed to workout programs that have become increasingly utilized.

But at the same time, the data shows new cities are popping up with bigger problems than ever before. This from a Reuters article:

Boise City-Nampa, Idaho, and Provo-Orem and Salt Lake City in Utah had the biggest year-over-year increases in foreclosure rates among the top 50 areas.

If workout programs are having a positive effect on the harder hit areas of the past, why are other cities seeing such dramatic increases? In RealtyTrac’s report, chief executive James J. Saccacio explained the trends:

Rising unemployment and a new variety of mortgage resets continue to gradually shift the nation’s foreclosure epicenters in the third quarter away from the hot spots of the last two years and toward some metro areas that had avoided the brunt of the first foreclosure wave.

Most experts continue to agree that the end is still far off and foreclosures will continue to hamper the housing market’s ability to rebound.

• According to the Star-Ledger, New Jersey foreclosures were down 30 percent in the first six months of 2009
• In South Florida, the Miami Herald reported foreclosures were cut in half from May to June.
• The Austin-Business Journal reports foreclosures are at a 5 month low in Austin, TX.

This news comes against RealtyTrac’s report that the national foreclosure rate rose from May to June by 4.57%. Two of the articles above are careful to point out that the drop doesn’t guarantee things are getting better. Numbers are still way up over a year ago and agencies and lenders alike are overwhelmed by requests for help.

There is also the possibility that loan modification efforts have at least curtailed some foreclosures. However, lenders participating in the Making Home Affordable plan have been slow to fully embrace loan modification efforts and more will be required of them in the coming months to stem the tide of foreclosures.

Regardless of whether or not some regions are seeing a decrease in foreclosure activity, more adjustable rate mortgages are scheduled to reset in the coming year and there is no shortage of homeowners that are going to be facing the difficult situation of paying a mortgage they can’t afford.