I would tend to blame adjustable rate mortgages much more than a soft resale market.
State foreclosures up 23 percent
The Business Journal of Milwaukee - July 10, 2007
The foreclosure rate on Wisconsin homes remained high throughout the first half of 2007, driven by rising interest rates and the soft housing market, an industry monitor reported Tuesday.
Wisconsin as a whole had 9,229 foreclosure filings in the first half of 2007, up nearly 23 percent compared with 2006, a year in which foreclosures jumped 34 percent, according to newly released data compiled by ForeclosuresWI.com, a provider of Wisconsin foreclosure resources and statistics.
Filings for the month of June 2007 were up more than 8 percent from May.
Milwaukee County foreclosure filings are nearly 48 percent higher compared with the first half of 2006. That's more than double the statewide increase.
Robert Jansen, president of ForeclosuresWI.com, said results were consistent with the growing number of mortgage defaults nationwide. He said a mix of rising interest rates are being compounded by adjustable-rate mortgages, creating staggering increases to many homeowners' monthly mortgage payments, Jansen said in a press release.
A cooling housing market is also making it difficult for homeowners to quickly sell their homes to avoid foreclosure, Jansen said. Subprime mortgage providers are also tightening their standards, eliminating refinancing options for troubled homeowners.
In these days of sub-prime loans and the housing market in such a downturn, many people are in danger of losing their homes. Many lenders issued adjustable loans that re-adjust periodically and many people may not have been aware of how much their payments could go up. Some of these people may now be in danger of foreclosure if they're unable to keep up with the payment increases.
http://www.thejohnbeck.tv
Posted by: John | December 06, 2007 at 10:51 AM