Laura Lafayette, a senior vice president at the Richmond Association of Realtors, said she’s thinks President Barack Obama’s foreclosure rescue plan is a step in the right direction. “We have to stem the tide of foreclosures to stem the tide of home depreciations,“ she said. “To stabilize prices we have to get at the foreclosure issue.“

Details of President Barack Obama’s $75 billion plan to help up to 9 million families restructure or refinance their mortgages to avoid losing their homes to foreclosure.

President Barack Obama outlines $75 billion more in government spending today, a plan to pump money into the crashing housing sector to prevent millions of Americans from losing their homes.

Virginia foreclosures in January fell 30 percent from December, but were 82 percent higher a year earlier, according to monthly data released this morning by RealtyTrac. While good news, the month-to-month decline is likely attributable to a foreclosure moratorium by some lenders. One in every 610 households in Virginia, or a total 5,366, received a foreclosure filing in January. Filings include notices of default, auction and foreclosure sales.

One in an occasional series on foreclosures Abuilding lot that sold for $40,000 two years ago is on the market for $6,000. A spacious house in a new subdivision is listed for $100,000 less than what it sold for new in 2007.

Some houses that were foreclosed are on the market now. (Continued on Page F3)  Ladysmith Village: 7224 Watkins Court
  Asking price: $275,000
  Assessment: $412,700
  Last sold: $476,459 in 2006
  Lake Land’Or: 210 Land Or Drive
  Asking price: $159,000
  Assessment: $219,900

Foreclosures continue to mount, with the number of filings in the Richmond area nearly tripling in the third quarter from the year-earlier period, according to a national report. In all, 1,166 households here, or 0.23 percent, received a foreclosure filing, according to today’s report from RealtyTrac, an online researcher of foreclosure activity.