Fort Worth-area foreclosures are up about 18 percent for 2008 compared with last year, with more than 50,000 homes posted for foreclosure auctions during the year.

There were 15,934 postings in Tarrant County for the 12 auctions scheduled during 2008, compared with 13,490 postings a year ago, according to annual figures from Foreclosure Listing Service.

Each of the four North Texas counties surveyed — Tarrant, Dallas, Collin and Denton — was up by double digits for the year, and the area as a whole was up 17 percent from last year.

Tarrant County postings increased only slightly for the Dec. 2 auction. There were 1,321 postings for December, up 1 percent from the 1,303 postings in December 2007.

"That’s really the encouraging part," said George Roddy, president of the Addison-based service.

When he checked this summer, the average loan facing foreclosure was made in the fourth quarter of 2004. Now he is noticing a lot more recent loans. If the average time that foreclosed loans were made is indeed getting more recent, that means that the loans made during looser underwriting standards are working through the system.

But the tumult in the financial markets and employment during September and October could affect foreclosures in the next few months, Roddy said, although the positive traction that the market is showing may counteract any spikes ahead.

"I really think it’s a stabilization," he said. "I think the negatives of September and October will be nullified to some degree."