Foreclosure Data Suggest Some 'Bubbles' Could Burst.

Due to a generally weakened national economy over the last year and high rates of unemployment around the country, the mortgage industry has seen and will continue to see high foreclosure rates over the coming year, according to industry experts.

"We are seeing trends of foreclosures developing on the West Coast and, in particular, in Midwest cities. It is usually correlated with unemployment rates," said Matt McCave, president of Foreclosure Assistance LLC, a Portland, Ore.-based provider of foreclosure resolution services to borrowers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

"Portland, I believe, may have the highest unemployment across the nation and we are seeing an increase as far as homeowners contacting us for help. Overall, we are seeing foreclosures increasing in that area," added Mr. McCave, whose company works with the 200 largest mortgage servicers in the country. Phil Colling, an economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, said, according to his most recent data, "Ohio is rather high at 2.15% of loans in the process of foreclosure and Pennsylvania is rather high at 2.01%." Mr. Colling was unwilling to speculate as to the reason for the high foreclosure rates in those states.

Some, though, speculate that the increases in foreclosure rates in some states show that some housing bubbles are starting to burst. Among them is Alexis McGee, president of Foreclosures.com, a Sacramento, Calif.-based company publishing pre-foreclosure data.

"We are starting to see the first uptick in the foreclosures in certain markets like San Francisco, Orange County (Calif.), San Jose and Phoenix," said Ms. McGee, calling these "lesser bubbles."

Cities with "severe bubbles" would be Boston, San Diego and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Ms. McGee, who, on these cities, cited a report by UCLA economists. The ...