US Foreclosures Are On The Rise

Foreclosures hit another record high in August: 304,000 homes were in default and 91,000 families lost their houses. More than 770,000 homes have been repossessed by lenders since August 2007, when the credit crunch took hold.

The 27% jump over last August represents a more modest year-over-year increase than in previous months, but that's only because the housing crisis was already underway in August 2007, which saw a big spike in foreclosures.

In August 2008 the total number of U.S. properties that received foreclosure filings, as well as the national foreclosure rate, were both the highest. And now that the nation in a recessionary economy, with job losses exceeding 400,000 a month, Duncan speculates that the foreclosure crisis may be drawn out even longer.

Foreclosure filings in Bay County continue to rise this summer at a rate much higher than state and national averages. Florida's July foreclosure filings rose 14 percent compared to June and 139 percent compared to July 2007. Bay County's filing increases were high but not unprecedented compared to other areas in Florida and the United States. The county's foreclosure rate of one filing for every 348 households was higher than the national average of one for every 464, but below the state rate of one filing for every 186 households.

It's not just vacation towns in California taking a hit. Foreclosures have been more prevalent since the credit crunch as caused those in the New York and Philadelphia metro areas who could once afford a vacation home to default as well. In other areas, buyers took out loans for properties that were beyond reach.

Eight of the top 10 worst performing metro areas were in California. Stockton, in the Central Valley, had the highest rate in the nation with one in every 50 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month of August 2008.

Article submitted Tuesday, September 30, 2008
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