2011 will be peak year for foreclosures

RealtyTrac predicts 2011 will have the most foreclosures since the housing crisis began in 2006:

The bleakest year in the foreclosure crisis has only just begun.

Lenders are poised to take back more homes this year than any other since the U.S. housing meltdown began in 2006. About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages and industry experts say more people will miss payments because of job losses and also loans that exceed the value of the homes they are living in.

"2011 is going to be the peak," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac Inc. The firm predicts 1.2 million homes will be repossessed this year.

The blistering pace of home foreclosures this year will top 2010, when a record 1 million homes were lost, RealtyTrac said Thursday.

Even if the number of foreclosures starts declining in 2012, it will remain above the historic norm for several years to come.