In the end, it all comes down to jobs, jobs, jobs.

72% of the nation’s metro markets are saw an increase in foreclosure activity in 2010. Cities like Houston (up 26%), Seattle (up 23%), and Atlanta (up 21%) do to unemployment.

Why make a 15 to 30 year commitment, where the bank will insist on including a recourse clause against you, when you may not have a job next week? To make matters worse, we have millions of homes in shadow inventory to clear out when we already have a full foreclosure pipeline. So when the shadow inventory is dumped, it won’t be pretty.

For that reason, 2011 foreclosure numbers will be worse than 2010.