Residential foreclosures since January reached 2,784, more than a third higher than the first six months last year and nearly double since that period in 2004.

Records show one of every 64 homes among the estimated 180,000 houses in Denton County has been touched by foreclosure, according to appraisal district records studied by Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.

“We know we’ve been having high foreclosures in the D-FW area for the last eight or nine years,” said George Roddy Sr., president of Foreclosure Listing Service. “It just shows you there are an awful lot of people out there that have been affected by what we call the foreclosure bug.”

In Denton County, the comparisons also show that one in every 213 homes was affected by foreclosure postings in 1998, showing that 70 percent more have been involved in foreclosures recently than in the prior decade.

A total of 231 homes valued up to $99,999 were posted for foreclosure in the first half of 2008, down 14 percent from the 269 posted for foreclosure in the first six months of 1998.

By comparison, 1,618 homes valued at $100,000 to $199,999 were posted for foreclosure sale in the first six months of 2008, more than 10 times the number listed for the first half of 1998.

An estimated 395 homes valued at $200,000 to $299,999 were posted for foreclosure auction in mid-year 2008, compared to just eight listed for the first half of 1998.

And for homes valued at $300,000 to $499,999, two homes were posted for foreclosure auction in 1998; in 2008, 290 were posted.

“It means that foreclosure has touched somebody’s life — each of our lives over the last six months because somebody we know has been posted,” said Foreclosure Listing Service spokeswoman Bonnie Brown.

The current foreclosure cycle, which Roddy says started in late 1999 with the bursting of the dot-com bubble, which has been stretched by subprime lending mortgage crisis.

However, in the past year, higher costs of living have pushed yet others into the foreclosure cycle, he says.

“The problem is this is just another cycle of problems that can create hardships on people,” Roddy said, adding that higher credit card interest rates, more expensive groceries and other items, and increasing gasoline prices have all hit homeowners pretty hard.

“The bad part is we don’t see a lot of increase in salaries to keep up with the small amount of inflation,” not to mention higher costs of living, he said.

“It’s kind of a tough period to be going through for an awful lot of people,” Roddy said. “There’s no telling how long this is going to go on.”

DAWN COBB can be reached at 940-566-6879. Her e-mail address is dcobb@dentonrc.com.