Foreclosures Up Dramatically in June
By: Phyllis Pavese
The numbers aren't getting any better.
One in 501 homeowners in the U.S. began the foreclosure process in June.
That's more than 252,000 homes.
And that's also a full 53 percent more than last year at this time.
In addition, bank seizures tripled during the month, a record 171 percent increase, showing that the foreclosure crisis is only getting worse, not better. Not since the Great Depression has it been this bad.
The state of the states
For the eighteenth consecutive month, Nevada has the dubious distinction of having the highest foreclosure rate. According to RealtyTrac, that's one in 122 homes in some state of foreclosure.
But California has seven of the top ten metro areas with the highest rates, along with the highest amount of total filings - 68,666 - for the eighteenth consecutive month. The other three metro areas are in Nevada and Florida. All three states have subprime borrowers at risk of default due to lax lending standards.
In the Midwest, Ohio and Michigan have been hardest hit, primarily due to layoffs in the auto industry and other companies. And with the price of gas at record highs, and more and more people looking for cars with better mileage or taking alternate transportation, that won't be getting better any time soon.
Nationally, the number of foreclosures actually was three percent lower than May's record high, so there's been some improvement in other states.
Housing still slumping
Home prices fell to record lows in April, resulting in dwindling equity for homeowners, which could mean more possible foreclosures, shrinking equity and the cycle continuing.
It's estimated that banks will own one million homes by the end of the year, roughly between one-fourth and one-third of all house for sale. Since spring 2006, homeowners nationwide have lost about $3.5 trillion in equity.
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