California's home foreclosure rate in April dropped by 7% from the previous month and 20% from April of last year.

"It surprises me that this downward trend has been so persistent."

RealtyTrac's Daren Blomquist says banks are taking longer to foreclose on homes in California. Four-years ago, the process took about 130 days. Now, it's more like 330 days.

"The lender is willing to wait almost a full year."

That's great for people struggling to keep their homes because it means they have longer to work out loan modifications.

"But on the other hand there are still a very substantial percentage of these delayed foreclosures that are going to be foreclosed on eventually. By delaying those, the market is going to take longer to recover."

Blomquist expects foreclosures to pick up once federal and state officials reach an agreement with lenders on foreclosure guidelines.