Foreclosure rate continued climb in December

The Wichita area foreclosure rate in December continued its year-long upswing, according to First American CoreLogic, a real estate date firm.

4.55 percent of all area mortgages were at least 90-days late on payments during the month and 1.49 percent were in foreclosure. Those figures are up from 3.01 percent in late payments and .83 percent in foreclosure in December 2008.

The December rate is slightly higher than the state average, but about half the national average.