Despite government efforts to help homeowners keep their homes, the foreclosure crisis continues to ravage towns and neighborhoods throughout the country. During the first quarter of this year, the number of real estate properties that received at least one foreclosure filing increased by 16% compared with the same period in 2009, according to RealtyTrac.com, which tracks foreclosure filings nationwide. (That includes homes at all stages of foreclosure, from receiving a Notice of Default which basically kicks off the process, through auction, to becoming Real Estate Owned, or REO, which means the property has been foreclosed on and purchased by the bank).
The good news is, the rate of new foreclosure filings seems to be tapering off in the areas where it hit the hardest: it actually declined in California (-6%) and Nevada (-16%). Many states, however, saw foreclosure spikes of 50% or more. For more details on the number of new foreclosures and rate increases during the first quarter of 2010 compared with 2009, check out our infographic below. Note that the large percentage increases of foreclosure rate in certain states may be due to a change in RealtyTrac’s data collection methods. (All data is provided by RealtyTrac.com.)
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10 Comments so far
leave a commentThe problem is undervalued homes precipitated by the sub loan fiasco.Greed drove lenders to relax financing requirements causing people who couldn’t afford homes to get mortages.The option arm mortgage did us in.The lower initial rates rose when the lower rate interest rates increased.This all started when President Clinton decided to get everone into homes by Fannie Mae and Freddie mac buying the paper up.Now the default rates have incresed.So what did everyone expect?.Too bad the tax payer gets stuck with the bill.Let them go down so we purge all these toxic loans and start fresh
Honestly if the banks weren’t such crooks and actually complied with the HAMP program and the recent supplemental directives that took effective june 1st we would be in much better shape. However the government is not holding their feet to the fire and enforcing the directives that they have established. US bank and Chase being particularly bad offenders. I think it would be silly to let the banks continue to gobble up all this property rather than just give modifications to all these people who are still underwater. Take the finical hit now rather than later when you sell the property for less than what you would have made through a modified loan and realize the loss. Seems simple enough to me, but in a world where the mentality is not long term thinking but simply how are we going to do at the end of this quarter I just don’t see the banks moving forward and getting out of this mess.
Responding to richard nigro, it wasn’t all of President Clinton fault that the mortgage crisis got out of hand. Indeed he started the goal of increasing home ownership by setting practical goals, but President Bushed went beyond practicality and set unrealistic goals for home ownership which drove the private sector to a behavior of providing mortgages to people who could not afford them.
Delaware
The graphical map of foreclosures is interesting, I see it is related to RealtyTrac. I get some printed reports from them each month. I was not aware of this tool, and appreciate your sharing it.
Regards,
Alan Kroll – Managing Broker
The option arm mortgage did us in.The lower initial rates rose when the lower rate interest rates increased
So what did everyone expect?!!
A map like this would have more meaning if it was calculated on a per capita basis.
We live in Michigan. Our home has devalued by 100K. No way out, even a short sale is not an option. Our taxes went up to the point where we are under water with escrow and our monthly payment spiked over $300 per month. Then I lost my job and fell behind paying 2 months. We have tried since Nov. 2008 for a modification. Our loan just keeps getting re-sold after we are almost through the process, and we have to start over. It’s such a scam, thinking the government will help get the companies to obey the laws. Our loan was sold 3 times in the last 12 months, and that was with no late payments! We are speaking with an attorney and will probably be walking away. The bank can kiss my overworked a$$ and I’ll be laughing. They will wish they had dropped me below an 8% interest-only 30 year crappy mortgage when they lose 40K forclosing on a $100k house that has 230K owed on it!!!
The vast majority of modification loans will probably go into default for the very reasons the original loan went bust…financial irresponsibility. This entire fiasco is anything but new in the making; the signs have been there for a long time, but the public keeps waiting for things to automatically improve. We can blame all sorts of entities, from past administrations to current policies, from the nasty ole banks to the Tooth Fairy, St Nick, and The Jolly Green Giant…the plain hard truth is that the American penchant of keeping up with the Jonses caught up with American consumerism a long long time ago. We were just too intoxicated with easy credit to really care. The sad reality is that 1) current economic/fiscal conditions are a long time coming, and 2) any return to (the new) normalcy will also be a long time yet to come.
REALITY, ANYONE?