January foreclosure filings jumped 57% over last year's numbers and they were 8% higher than the December numbers, according to the Wall Street Journal this morning [subscription required]. There were 233,001 foreclosures filed in January, compared to 148,425 last January and 215,749 in December, the Journal reported based on RealtyTrac data.
Foreclosures are on an upward trend after a lull at the end of last year. This was expected as we're starting to see the next wave of interest rate resets on ARMs. California had the highest number of foreclosures in the nation with 57,158 filings, which is 120% higher than a year earlier and 7% higher than December. Other states that topped the foreclosure list include Florida, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Illinois and Colorado. The state with the highest foreclosure rate per household was Nevada.
Foreclosures are definitely taking their toll on the banking industry, as the FDIC gears up for possible bank failures. Don't expect any good news from the banking industry for a long time to come.
Lita Epstein has written more than 20 books including "The 250 Questions You Should Ask to Avoid Foreclosure."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-26-2008 @ 12:35PM
Jack Fisher said...
My wife and I used to ride through 'high-priced' neighborhoods and wonder how those buying those houses were able to do so when they were obviously so young. Generally there were two cars, also high priced, in the driveway and a couple of kids playing in the yard. Now those same houses are for sale, empty and have been that way for a long time. Greed of lenders allowed those people to get in over their inexperienced heads.
2-26-2008 @ 5:09PM
David Huston said...
Looks like those plans cooked up by Bush and his Treasury Secretary to address the housing crisis just aren't doing the job. Not surprising, since Bush fundamentally doesn't believe in any governmental role in society other than arming troops and sending them to faraway lands.
2-26-2008 @ 5:10PM
Tracy Coenen said...
The foreclosures aren't the fault of the administration. They're the fault of consumers who made poor financial choices and have poor money management skills.
2-26-2008 @ 1:31PM
Daniel said...
We have resources in this country to bail out the entire world, but we cannot come up with a simple plan to re-structure the traditional banking mentality.
When are the Feds and the banking industry and our leaders going to realize that all that is needed is team work and a little immagination. It is not possible to let a financial domino effect continue. The means and the power to get it done are there.