It's reaching the point where discussing month-to-month changes in Tampa Bay foreclosures is missing the point.

Take October. RealtyTrac says we had 6,216 foreclosure filings in October, down from 6,709 filings in September. Hip, hip, hurrah? More like hip, hip, horrible.

Here's the spread sheet: Download Realtytracoct09

We're missing the dinosaur in the den. Let's talk Lis Pendens, the Latin name for foreclosure lawsuits lenders initially file against delinquent homeowners.

Lis Pendens cases totaled 4,415 in October, a hair below the 4,586 Lis Pendens filed in September. But if RealtyTrac is counting properly, these are fresh cases each and every month.

Pasco County showed large declines in foreclosures measured month to month and year to year. Let's hope that continues. Pasco, together with southeast Hillsborough County, was the epicenter of over-construction through 2007.

How long can a housing market tolerate this never-ending assembly line of foreclosures? Where's the cut-off switch? We can only hope that economist predictions of another wave of foreclosures next year is untrue.