A Million Homes Lost to Foreclosure Last Year

January 14, 2009 RSS Feed Print

A report issued today by ForeclosureS.com shows that roughly a million homes were lost to foreclosure last year, an increase of more than 60 percent from 2007:

Month to month, foreclosed properties repossessed by lenders spiked in December, up 19.3 percent to 97,841 from November, when 82,033 properties were foreclosed. The December increase followed two months of steady declines, but December still was 6.1 percent below the peak foreclosure month of September. Pre-foreclosures, which had been slowing until December, also climbed to 190,467 in December, up 11.9 percent from November.

All regions of the country showed increases in lender-owned properties and pre-foreclosure filings in December, ForeclosureS.com analysis shows.

U.S. FORECLOSURE INDEX:
YEAR TO DATE PREFORECLOSURE FILINGS BY REGION

Preforeclosures YTD 2007   YTD 2008   Change
Region Filings Per Household Filings Per Household  
Midwest 185,073 1.69% 228,849 1.98% 23.60%
Southeast 383,697 2.31% 735,417 4.29% 91.70%
Northeast 190,832 1.14% 235,745 1.34% 23.50%
Southwest 528,399 2.09% 883,006 3.60% 67.10%
Other States 3,476 0.60% 6,034 1.03% 73.60%
Nationwide 1,291,477 1.85% 2,089,051 2.95% 61.80%

*   Percentage of every 1,000 households in state

U.S. FORECLOSURE INDEX:
YEAR TO DATE REO FILINGS BY REGION

REO YTD 2007   YTD 2008   Change
Region Filings Per Household Filings Per Household  
Midwest 182,176 1.13% 195,057 1.24% 7.10%
Southeast 146,068 0.89% 253,126 1.49% 73.30%
Northeast 26,333 0.24% 41,250 0.25% 56.70%
Southwest 241,544 0.93% 501,641 1.99% 107.70%
Other States 1,056 0.21% 1,496 0.27% 41.70%
Nationwide 597,177 0.85% 992,570 1.34% 66.20%

*   Percentage of every 1,000 households in state

Tags:
real estate,
housing,
foreclosures,
housing market

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Hilarious, just hilarious.I often hear ignorant people whine about how dangerous it is to retire in Central America (or other inexpensive living destinations). A million families had their homes confiscated by some imperialist bank. Oh, sorry, I forgot that we're supposed to couch the truth in less precise terms. How about: "The rightful owners of these distressed properties were finally able to reclaim them from those low-life unemployed workers." Better?

CommieTommy of NY 1:09PM February 08, 2009

All the news stories report the percentage of increase in foreclosures - and so many people are left with the impression that 30 - 40 - 50% etc of homes are in foreclosure. Why not tell the story that despite the bad economy, that over 90% of home are NOT in foreclosure. I believe that this misleading reporting has created a false expectation of bargain sale house prices - and the buyers are waiting for that bargain sale price - and the seller is holding our for a fair price.

edie of NJ 11:20PM January 28, 2009

Lynne,

The simple answer is the world is not set up for people who pay on time, do what they are supposed to do when they say they will do it. The breaks are always given to those that are perceived to need the breaks, not to those who deserve it

Rich of OR 4:57PM January 14, 2009

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