From the Pocono Record:
Monroe Co. foreclosures double in first quarter
A big chunk of homes sold in Monroe County so far this year were houses in foreclosure.
In 2006, foreclosed homes accounted for 9.6 percent of all home sales here. That rate more than doubled to 20.4 percent in the quarter ending March 31.
…
Home sales in Monroe County fell more than 10 percent last year to 3,127 homes sold, down from 3,492 in 2005. But sales of foreclosed homes jumped by 23.6 percent.The average sale price for foreclosed homes dropped by 3.2 percent to $139,497 so far in 2007. Comparable year-to-date figures for home sale prices in 2007 were not available.
From the Journal News:
Foreclosure pain spreading in Lower Hudson Valley
A home foreclosure would rank on anyone’s list of most traumatic financial experiences, right up there with a job loss, sky-high medical bills or an IRS notice for back taxes.
The pain of losing a home is hitting hundreds of people in the Lower Hudson Valley, as lenders seek to recover what they can from customers who fell behind on payments.
In Westchester, lenders began foreclosure proceedings on 527 homes during the first three months of the year. That’s a 39 percent increase over the first quarter of last year.
In Putnam County, the number rose 91 percent from 68 last year to 130 this year.
In Rockland County, the clerk’s office reports 200 foreclosure initiations through the first two months of the year, a 33 percent rise over the 150 filed in January and February of 2006. March comparisons were not available for Rockland last week.
From the Baltimore Sun:
Foreclosures on the rise in suburbs of Baltimore
An Edgewater house with a new siding-and-stone facade. A five-bedroom in Hanover, two-car garage attached. A West Friendship mansion on nearly an acre of gently sloping land. A million-dollar Colonial in a Columbia development so new, the sales office is still open.
Suburban. Symbols of affluence. And – as recently as the past few weeks – all in foreclosure.
The new wave of mortgage defaults hitting the region, part of a nationwide spike, is not primarily a city problem. Foreclosure filings rose four times faster last year in Baltimore’s suburbs than in Baltimore – up 15 percent versus less than 4 percent in the city, court records show. To the south in Montgomery, one of the nation’s wealthiest counties, filings were up more than 30 percent.
The Monroe County foreclosures are a perennial event. This time might be a little more cataclysmic, however.
Does anybody think that the foreclosure news just creates more foreclosures? It appears that people that get upside down are just willing to walk away. Most people really don’t care about their credit score. Bankruptcy isn’t a bad word anymore.
Maybe the real suckers these days are those of us that take responsibility for our obligations.
Walk away? Don’t even need to do that, just stop paying. From what I’ve heard via email, the foreclosure process takes a good 6 months at the minimum, with the average up near 8-10.
jb
d2b,
only problem might be getting a next place to live or rent. :)
but at least you get free 10 months of rent. :)