Foreclosure rates sky high in Massachusetts

On Wednesday March 14 th News Center 5’s Amalia Barreda gave a report about the soaring rates of home foreclosure in Massachusetts , numbers that are 92% higher than last year. These numbers are so high that any one in the state can loose their house anytime. A home is a place that one does not like to abandon so easily especially if it has taken years of investment to achieve it. Mortgage broker Don Larsen spoke to his client that the New Century Mortgage, a wholesale lender, can not arrange the cash for a promised $417,000 mortgage. The worst sufferers of mortgage lenders stepping out of deals are sub prime borrowers, or buyers who don’t have a healthy credit. Financial experts said that the interest rates are increasing and housing costs are plummeting, it is becoming difficult to do the payments, especially on modifiable price mortgages. The state bank commissioner Steven Antonakes has ensured that they are looking for proper methods to better the situation and help people who are facing foreclosure. They are also making plans to prevent more and more people from coming under this problem as it is very alarming circumstance for some.
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=foreclosure&c=yahoo_news

Foreclosures.com: Florida 2nd in nation in foreclosure filings (Source: The Business Journal of Jacksonville)

A new report issued by Foreclosures.com shows that Florida leads the Southeast region and ranks second in the U.S. in the number of foreclosures. The northern California-based real estate investment advisory firm and publisher of foreclosure property information notes that to date this year, Florida has 95,682 foreclosures. But the Sunshine State isn’t alone in foreclosure troubles. “The foreclosure epidemic stretches throughout the Southeast and beyond, fueled by soaring living costs, consumer credit woes, the aftermath of creative mortgages and high energy costs,” said Alexis McGee, president of Foreclosures.com, in a written release. As of Oct, 31, Foreclosures.com reports nationwide foreclosure filings are already up 19.6 percent over all of 2005 — 766,058 foreclosure filings for 2006 vs. 640,457 for all of 2005. “That subprime ARM or interest-only home loan may have been the perfect solution several years ago, but now that mortgage payment has adjusted way up,” says McGee. “Combine that rate shock with lax credit practices and the current slowdown in home appreciation rates and sales, and many homeowners are overextended and stuck without enough equity to refinance or sell. Foreclosure is their only option.” Foreclosures.com’s Southeast region includes data for Alabama , Arkansas , Florida , Mississippi , Kentucky , Louisiana , Tennessee , Virginia , Georgia , North and South Carolina , and West Virginia .

Rising Foreclosure Rate Lures Investors (Investor’s Business Daily via Yahoo! News)

Savvy investors know that there’s money to be made in good times and bad. Slowing home sales have wags predicting opportunities in one of the saddest segments of a falling real estate market: foreclosures.