Safeguard Properties - Detroit MI First in Metro Foreclosures

Detroit MI First in Metro Foreclosures

Thursday, 16 November 2006

A recent report discusses Detroit's ascension to the first spot in the number of metro foreclosures in the country.

Detroit Takes First Seed in Q3 Metro Foreclosure Rankings

Indianapolis, Atlanta and Dallas, cities who once topped the charts for two consecutive quarters in metro area foreclosure rankings, have finally dropped out of the top three seeds.

According RealtyTrac's Q3 2006 U.S. Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report released last Friday, Detroit topped the charts with the highest metro area foreclosure rate, reporting one new foreclosure filing for every 80 households which was more than 4.5 times the national average. Ft. Lauderdale and Denver filed in at second and third, respectively, with foreclosure rates that were a little over four times the national average.

Miami, Dallas, Indianapolis, Ft. Worth, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Memphis completed the top 10 list.

James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said that a slowdown in homes sales and declining home appreciation rates were a few of the contributing factors that marked the increase in delinquencies nationwide. "It's also likely that part of the reason for the increased foreclosure rates is the long-anticipated effect of the first wave of adjustable rate mortgages re-setting at higher monthly payments, putting homeowners into financial distress," Saccacio continued.

While the majority of the metro areas in the top 10 saw an increase in foreclosure activity, Indianapolis reported a 2 percent drop when compared to the previous quarter.

Detroit felt a 42 percent spike in foreclosure activity for Q3, with Denver reporting a 30 percent growth and Dallas reporting a 10 percent growth. Ft. Worth, the sister city to the Big D, saw a 14 percent increase in foreclosure activity. Atlanta saw a 5 percent increase over second quarter activity, Las Vegas reported a significant increase by 59 percent, and Memphis foreclosure activity was up 2 percent from last quarter.

Though Chicago was ranked nineteenth among the top 100 metro areas, the Windy City has the most new foreclosure filings for the third quarter, with 16,155 properties entering some stage of the foreclosure process. In second was Atlanta with 13,562 properties entering into the foreclosure process and Dallas falling in at third with a total of 12,422 properties.

RealtyTrac's 2006 U.S. Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report provides the total number of properties entering some stage of foreclosure in each of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSA). Rankings include properties in all three phases of foreclosure: Pre-foreclosures—Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Foreclosures—Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and REOs. U.S. Foreclosure Rates Soar 19.6 Percent Nicole Holland | 11.13.06Foreclosure rates are running rampant, and according to ForeclosureS.com, a northern California-based publisher of foreclosure property information, the Southwest is among the top states leading the pack. Fueled by the high cost of energy, rising interest rates and lenient lending, homeowners in the thousands are losing their homes.

The company released several reports today, showing that California, Texas and Colorado, three Southwest states, have some of the highest reported foreclosure numbers in the nation. ForeclosureS.com reports a 45 percent increase in California's numbers with 117,560 foreclosures up from 2005's total of 80,989 filings, making it the leader in the United States in foreclosure rankings. Texas saw an increase of 14.7 percent with 90,620 foreclosures, ranking third in the nation. And also in the Southwest, Colorado climbed the ladder with 54,959 properties in foreclosure, up 25 percent from the reported total of 43,951 in 2005.

In the aftermath of several torrential hurricanes, Florida counts 95,682 foreclosures, making it the second place seed nationally. A majority of the Southeast is also struggling--Alabama is up 102.2 percent from 2005 with 2,356 foreclosure filings. However, Virginia bucks the trend with a 27 percent decrease.

Many states in the Northeast have experienced no relief, as foreclosures in New Jersey are up 62.6 percent reporting 23,272, so far, and a whopping 122.9 percent increase in Massachusetts with 18,924 foreclosure filings. New York saw a mild decline when compared to the previous year, with 21,736 foreclosure filings to date, versus the 23,374 in 2005.

In the Midwest, job loss, credit problems and creative financing is advancing the numbers, with Illinois reporting 62,058 foreclosure filings, up 55.9 percent from 2005. Kansas reached a 72 percent upsurge with 2,137 properties in foreclosure.

"That sub-prime ARM or interest-only home loan may have seemed like the perfect solution back when the monthly payment was low, but now those payments have adjusted up. A 2 percent rate increase can double a payment overnight," said Alexis McGee, president of ForeclosureS.com. "Combine that rate shock with soaring costs of living, and the slowdown in home appreciation rates and sales, and many homeowners can't pay up and don't have enough equity to refinance or sell. Foreclosure is their only option."

Just two months shy to end the fourth quarter and already numbers have increased nationally by 19.6 percent overall with 766,058 foreclosure filings, up from 2005's 640,457 total reported numbers.