Foreclosure by the Numbers—Update
By Foreclosure-Fighter Staff Writer
So you've probably heard about the national foreclosure crisis and the role that subprime and adjustable rate mortgages played. But you may be wondering about what, exactly, is going on. Here's a summary of some of the latest hard facts about foreclosures in the United States.
Foreclosure Rankings by State
The states with the top foreclosure ratings are (in order) Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, California, Florida and Illinois, according to reports from Business Week.. Five of these states are in the Midwest, making that region the hardest hit by foreclosures nationally.
Interestingly, the two non-Midwestern states in the top seven have very different primary foreclosure causes than the other five. Apparently, Florida and California are grappling with mortgage foreclosure now mainly because of the boom-bust cycle in the housing market.
After a frenzy of home construction, sources indicate that the supply for houses in these states is greater than the demand. Plus, resetting ARMs on these houses mean payments are getting harder and harder to make, leading to default and foreclosure.
In the Midwestern states, though, the foreclosure rates have been attributed largely to job loss and income reduction, Business Week reports. Again, nontraditional mortgages have compounded the effects of such hardships.
Foreclosure Rankings by City
The Executive Intelligence Review reports that Stockton, California has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. This is a town where neighborhood streets have so many empty houses that one man has reportedly begun giving "Repo Home Tours," driving groups of potential buyers around in a bus to see the abandoned homes.
According to RealtyTrac.com, Detroit ranks second in the U.S. for citywide foreclosures, with one in every 33 homes in Michigan's Wayne County in default. Sources estimate that this rate is approximately eight times the national average.
Foreclosure Records Set
Colorado, while not in the top seven states for foreclosure filings, has set some records of its own.
After a record-setting 28,509 home foreclosures in 2006, Colorado foreclosures continued to climb this year, with 28,960 in the first nine months of 2007 alone. The Denver Post reports that this figure would be higher still if not for the state's foreclosure-prevention hotline that has prevented more than 5,600 foreclosures so far.
As a further measure of the seriousness of Colorado's foreclosure problem, about 67% of homes are reportedly sold at auction these days, as compared with only 50% a year ago.
Any Good Foreclosure News?
Sort of.
CNNmoney.com has reported that foreclosure filings in November 2007 fell about 10% from October. Most experts don't expect the downturn to be permanent, though. Even if they do, filings were 68% greater in November of '07 than they were in the same month of '06.
No one knows for sure what the housing market will do next. For frequent news updates, visit Foreclosure-Fighter and see what's happening in the world of foreclosure.