The number of foreclosures in California have sky-rocketed.

According a report in the LA Times, the number of foreclosures in the state in the first quarter this year is up a staggering 327% from year-ago levels — an average of 500 foreclosures a day.

Ominously, the paper quotes research from DataQuick warning that the widening foreclosure problem could “spread beyond the current categories of dicey mortgages, and into mainstream home loans.”