RENEE MONTAGNE, host: NPR's business news starts with fewer foreclosures.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, host: The number of homes facing foreclosure fell slightly last month compared to a year ago. But the research firm RealtyTrac says lenders may be sending out fewer foreclosure notices simply because they're struggling to process the foreclosures already in the pipeline - which brings us to this statistic - RealtyTrac also reports the number of homes actually being repossessed by banks soared last month. In April, banks took control of more than 92,000 properties - an increase of 45 percent from a year earlier.
For the first time in five years, the number of households facing foreclosure is down. A firm called RealtyTrac says the number last month fell 2 percent compared to a year ago.