April 29, 2008
Foreclosure activity up 112 percent over 2007
Data out today says foreclosure activity is up 23 percent over the fourth quarter of 2007 and 112 percent over the first quarter of last year. We've written about a couple of high-profile foreclosures in the market, and there are a couple of others out there we're working on writing about.
Everyone seems to think Roanoke remains insulated from such problems. Do you still believe it?
This is from RealtyTrac, the nation's leading provider of information on foreclosures:
RealtyTrac® (realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its Q1 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 649,917 properties during the first quarter, a 23 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 112 percent increase from the first quarter of 2007. The report also shows that one in every 194 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter. RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1 million properties from nearly 2,500 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal. “Foreclosure activity in the first quarter increased on a year-over-year basis in 46 out of the 50 states and in 90 of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, demonstrating that most regions of the country are seeing more foreclosures,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “In some areas there are also some unusual, non-market factors impacting the foreclosure numbers. For example, the city of Philadelphia in late March issued a temporary moratorium on all foreclosure auctions for April, and the city has since adopted a program that will delay foreclosure proceedings on owner-occupied properties until the owners have met face-to-face with lenders to attempt a loan workout plan that would prevent foreclosure.
Comments
[April 29, 2008 2:44 PM]
Ed S.Chris, any idea if the majority of the foreclosures are "high-risk" loans (like variable interest rate), or if there is a correlation to the increase in these types of loans and the foreclosures?
I know the foreclosures have spiked here in the northern VA area. According to Fairfax County, foreclosures average about 1500 per year. In January 2008, about 4500 were recorded. After speaking to a good friend who worked for a mortgage broker, I see why some of this came about: people were taking loans that were obviously higher than they could afford.
Of course, this also means lenders were loaning money that they obviously knew was risky. So in those cases, its easy to point fingers at both parties, responsible for their own pain.