Alarming increase in foreclosure filings 

According to the 2007 U.S. Market Report on Foreclosure, released by a California based company RealityTrac, which rates itself as the “leading online marketplace”, foreclosure filings of more than 2.2 million were filed against an estimate 1.3 million properties in the entire nation. The foreclosure activities include handing over default notices, repossession of properties by the banks as well as properties sold in auctions. This report shows a 75 percent increase over the foreclosure filing figures of 2006. This is an alarming increase, considering the fact that 2006 was also not a very good year for property owners. As opposed to 2005, 2007 reports an overall increase of 149 percent. 

Moreover, some US households, to the tune of more than 1 percent, were caught up in some stage of foreclosing activity in the ongoing year of 2007. This figure nearly doubles that of 0.58 in the year 2006. 

Though the entire year was not that great, December was the worst affected month of the lot. 215,749 foreclosure reports were filed, which is a 97 percent increase from that of December 2006. Because of this, the fourth-quarter total of 2007 was brought upto 642,150 filings on properties, to the tune of 527,740. Though this results in only 1 percent increase, over and above that of the third quarter, there is an 86 percent rise on the overall fourth quarter totals of 2006.  

Thankfully, RealityTrac reports do not consider mortgage delinquencies. When a person fails to pay back the mortgage in 90 days time, foreclosure activities start. According to Mortgage Banker’s association, 5.59 percent of borrowers were late in second quarter, while 5.12 percent in second and 4.67 percent a year back. A lot of 30-60 day delinquencies were solved before they entered into any sort of legal formality. However, if the delinquency reports filed in fourth quarter mature to more than 90 days, the next year foreclosure reports will have a steep rise. 

According to James J. Saccacio, unless the government and the lender’s efforts gain some momentum, there is no stopping this alarming rise, even in the next year. 

Nevada is the worst hit state in foreclosure activities. Almost 3.4 percent of the total households were engaged in foreclosure activities, a figure which is three times that of the US. In 2007 66,316 filings were reported on 34,417 properties, double that of 2006. 

Florida was the next state to follow. 279,325 filings were handed over to 165,291 properties. 2 percent of the households were seized. December filings were 275 percent up from the previous year while fourth quarter filings showed a 211 percent increase. 

Michigan, California and not forgetting Colorado, make it to the top five states that have suffered the most. Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Illinois and Arizona are close behind. While Florida, Nevada and California had booming economy with soaring prices and steep growth, Michigan, Ohio never got that benefit. The question remains as to whether Nevada and others were victims of over-investment and an unstable but booming economy while Ohio ands Michigan suffered at the hands of an already rotten economy.