Here's a rundown of foreclosure activity in metropolitan Phoenix last month, thanks to real estate analyst Tom Ruff of the Information Market.

"March’s Numbers are 'who we thought they were,'” said Ruff.

Notice of trustee sales or pre foreclosures = 10,689

Trustee’s Deeds or foreclosures = 3,377 

Foreclosure cancellations = 3,168

Active foreclosures notices = 39,744

"March’s numbers came in as anticipated, existing home sales were up and foreclosures were down. Now mind you, when we refer to foreclosures, we are referring to trustee’s deeds, not notices.  You’re going to see a lot of confusion among people reporting foreclosure numbers as new notices hit all time highs and the number of active notices continue to rise. If an analyst is only watching new notices and not viewing the entire process, they are going to make some very dire predictions. Up and until October 2008, the numbers of notices were a perfect indicator as to what could be expected in 90 days, then the rules changed, baseball became cricket. Washington D.C. became the banks’ bank, and followed their capital infusion with close scrutiny and motherly advice. What’s this mean? I know one thing is certain, banking conventions are canceling their Vegas reservations and moving them to Washington," write Ruff in his latest report.

From Azcentral.com, April 15, 2009