US mortgage defaults up 57 percent.

An estimated 234,000 properties were in some stage of foreclosure, as bank repossessions more than doubled last month compared to last year as more home owners have had to give up their homes.

This accounts for one in every 538 US households, with California and Florida having the highest failure rates.

Action notices are also up by 32 percent, as some homeowners are having to default and just walk away.

A new trend has emerged where some simply deed their home over to the lender rather than allow the property to be auctioned off.

According to Kenneth Rosen, chairman of Rosen Real Estate Securities LLC, a hedge fund in Berkeley, California this form of foreclosure process is likely to continue throughout the year.

The increased rate of foreclosures is creating a backlog of unsold homes in an already inflated market which is driving prices down ever further.

Estimates released by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc report that there are going to be 2.5 million foreclosed properties available on the property by 2009, which could effect property prices to the tune of a further 20 percent loss.

The main metropolitan areas such as California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada will be hardest hit.

Nevada has the highest U.S. foreclosure rate in the last month with 1in 139 households effected, which is nearly four times the national rate.

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