Bank Foreclosure List in Florida Has More Middle Class Homes

The number of bank foreclosure list homes located in middle-class neighborhoods in Lee County, Florida is increasing, based on data from the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investors Association.

In September, the number of foreclosure postings dropped slightly in Lee County, but the number of higher priced homes hit with default or foreclosure notices increased.

A total of 1,610 foreclosure postings were filed in September, a decrease from the 1,692 filings in August and a sharp drop from the 2,462 filings in September last year, according to the real estate association.

In the past several months, foreclosures largely consisted of low-cost houses and home lots bought by investors during the boom which they easily abandoned when home values began to go down.

Home foreclosures are rising in pricey neighborhoods such as the central areas of Fort Myers. More homes in higher-cost communities are now entering bank foreclosure list although lower-priced houses in Cape Coral still account for 40 percent of foreclosures in Lee County and lower-cost homes in Lehigh Acres still account for 20 percent.

Michael Timmerman, a senior associate of economic consulting company Fishkind & Associates, said that the persistence of the recession has hurt even households that took out prime loans and that are earning incomes expected to survive the downturn.

In August, unemployment rose to 13.5 percent in Lee County, based on data from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. The rate increased slightly from the 13.3 percent adjusted rate in July and rose sharply from 9.2 percent in August last year.

More than 36,500 people in Lee County were looking for jobs in August, a slight drop from 36,625 in July and approximately 10,000 more than the number of job seekers in August 2008.

The number of non-agricultural jobs declined by about 15,800 in August while jobs in the local government sector climbed up by 8.9 percent because of the rehiring of support personnel. Jobs in the hospitality sector decreased by 5.7 percent as the number of tourists declined and as families prepare their children for school.

Just like in other areas of the country, unemployment continues to put housing units into bank foreclosure list as seen in Lee County’s foreclosure filings.

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