RealtyTrac, a national foreclosure-monitoring service, reports that foreclosures are up in the Hampton Roads area -- a trend that is being noted across the U.S. The latest statistics put the number of bank-owned properties at the highest quarterly total on record. Bank-owned properties are foreclosed properties that fail to sell at auction.

There is also some good news: nationally, March sales of existing homes were up 16.1% over March 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors. Seasonally adjusted new-home sales were up 26.9% from March 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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