4 States Account For 51 Percent Of The Nation's October 2008 Foreclosures

 

California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada accounted for more than half of the foreclosures nationwide in October 2008

Foreclosure is a hot topic among the press lately.  It's hard to turn on the television or open up a newspaper without seeing a story about it.

But what's most interesting about foreclosures is that they appear to be concentrated in certain areas of the country. 

According to the foreclosure-tracking service RealtyTrac, 4 states accounted for more than half of nation's foreclosures last month.

And those 4 states -- California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada -- share some very similar characteristics including:

  1. Their respective popularity with retirees and real estate investors
  2. Their large home value increases earlier this decade

In looking at the rest of the country's foreclosure data, the remaining 46 states combined accounted for just 48.8 percent of October's foreclosures. 

That's 1.06% per state on average.

Now, this isn't meant to diminish the impact of foreclosures on the economy -- quite the opposite.  Foreclosures harm to the national housing market because most mortgage lenders are national.  But, we highlight statistics like this to show that the foreclosure "problem" isn't so bad in most parts of the country, relative.

Furthermore, mortgage lenders are intervening to slow the flow of defaults nationwide.  Following the lead of JP Morgan and Bank of America, CitiMortgage just announced a sweeping plan to help homeowners avoid default and keep their homes.

In a way, for as good as this news is for homeowners, it's equally bad news for home buyers.  As the number of foreclosures decrease in any given market, it reduces the inventory of homes for sale.  Lower supply levels often lead to higher sale prices and less room to negotiate.  And this may be what the banks are trying to accomplish.

 
Posted by Bruce Brown on 11/13/2008 02:40 PM   Comments (4)   foreclosure, mortgage, interest rates  
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4 Comments on 4 States Account For 51 Percent Of The Nation's October 2008 Foreclosures

NOV
13
2008
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I always like to hear all the facts because this can be so spun up - I heard today that it is now 1 in every 452 homes are in foreclosure process.
2:55pm • #1

As rapidly dying breed, a Las Vegas Realtor, I appreciate the factual nature of your message.  There is one point that could be a little misleading though that I want to bring to your attention.  Las Vegas is home to several large age restricted communities as well as thousands of retirees that live in other areas of the community.  While almost every street has at least one foreclosure on it, the retirement communities are among the bright spots.  The retirees who moved into the valley were generally financially sound and purchased homes with the intention of never again moving.  As such, they were not candidates for the sub-prime market and also managed to avoid some of the more exotic adjustable rates that the lenders were pushing a few years ago.
3:18pm • #2

Thanks for reminding me Florida is right at the top! We are hit hard here in Miami it is causing prices to roll back like at Walmart!
3:26pm • #3

Thanks for reminding me Florida is right at the top! We are hit hard here in Miami it is causing prices to roll back like at Walmart!
3:26pm • #4


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Bruce Brown

Kansas City, MO

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Prime Lending

Address: 3200 NE 83rd Street, Kansas City, MO, 64119

Office Phone: (816) 286-4663 x HOME

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Daily mortgage market and interest rate commentary, information, data and news by Bruce Brown, CMPS with Prime Lending and radio host of Dollars and Homes on KCMO Talk Radio 710 and 103.7 FM in Kansas City.


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