After three months of consecutive declines, the number of foreclosed homes in California taken back by banks rose by 22.24 percent from September to October, according to ForeclosureRadar www.foreclosureradar.com, a local property information site that tracks every foreclosure in the Golden State and provides daily auction updates.

The company’s tally of new REOs is a 20.95 percent increase compared to October 2008, but despite the seemingly dramatic mushrooming, the latest numbers are still well below record levels. The number of foreclosures repossessed by banks in California last month remains 42.56 percent below the peak reached in July 2008, ForeclosureRadar’s data shows.

As banks took back nearly a quarter more homes in the October period, REO resales declined, the company said, leading to a slight jump in overall REO inventory of 5.65 percent. According to ForeclosureRadar, the decline in REO resales is not unexpected as bank-owned inventories have declined to a point that is insufficient to meet market demand.

Based on the company’s latest California Foreclosure Report, the number of foreclosures sold at auction to investors continues to grow significantly. These third-party sales jumped 16.42 percent in October compared to the previous month, and are up a staggering 381.33 percent compared to the same time last year.

Given that this increase in sales to third parties occurred in conjunction with a decline in the average discount to market value received by these investors, ForeclosureRadar says it is clear that sales at the courthouse steps are becoming increasingly competitive. Confidence is growing among investors that they can turn a profit reselling homes purchased at foreclosure auctions.

The discounts received by third-party investors at the courthouse declined in October to just 17.9 percent below ForeclosureRadar’s estimated market value, down from the previous month’s average discount of 20.5 percent. The company also noted that the discount from the outstanding loan balance fell to 48.5 percent from 50.4 percent in September.

Overall, California’s foreclosure filings in October remained relatively flat month-over-month, ForeclosureRadar said in its study. The majority of loans foreclosed on in October 2009 were originally made between January 2005 and December 2007, the company reported.