Foreclosures to Continue By Next Year

According to RealtyTrac, an estimate of 1 million property owners may be at risk of foreclosure by 2009.

259,085 homes were either given notice for being default, were filed as foreclosed or were given a warning about a bid. Foreclosure filings decreased to 7 percent since October because of some bank programs and state regulations created to postpone or delay the process of foreclosure.

Default borrowers were allowed to keep their homes because of the delay.

The increasing unemployment rate and the expiring moratoriums in foreclosures will be two of the major causes of an increase in foreclosure filings once again, according to Executive Vice President of Marketing Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac.

According to Stanford University Professor and Chairman of the National Bureau of Economic Research Committee Robert Hall, unemployment, which is now rising, plays a big role in foreclosures as it helps increase the growing number of default payments.

In addition, Hall stated that the price drop would go on by 2009 and there is no sign yet as to when it will be stabilized.

Even if there are loan modifications, major lenders would still not be able to accommodate all borrowers.

Washington bankers group Chief Economist Jay Brinkmann said that the foreclosure crisis would continue unless the unemployment rate starts to slow down.

1 out of 488 households filed for foreclosure last month, according to RealtyTrac.

The highest rate in foreclosures was Nevada with 1 out of 76 state households which is over 6 times of the usual average. The second was Florida with 1 out of 173 state households. The state also ranked second in foreclosure filings which is 49,190. Arizona came third with 1 out of 198 state households and ranked fifth in the number of filings which is 13,136.

RealtyTrac reported that Georgia, California, Idaho, Colorado, Michigan, Utah and Ohio are included in the Top 10 highest rates in terms of foreclosures, with California ranking first in filings since 2007.

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• Foreclosure House Auctions for Sale Declined in April
• Nationwide Foreclosures Soared 25% From 2007
• North Carolina Real Estate Market is Better than the Worst in Nation
• Rates of Foreclosures in Nevada Still Highest Despite Slack