Florida: Home of the Highest Repo Home Listing

Florida is home to several counties with the highest number of properties on repo home listing in the country. In the first two quarters of this year, Clark County ranked the highest across the country in terms of foreclosure rate. One out of 13 properties in Clark County went into foreclosure during the period.

Second on the list of counties with the highest number of properties on repo home listing was Lee County, with a rate of one in every 14 mortgages going into default. Osceolo came in third, together with Merced in California and Lyon, Nevada, with a rate of 1 in every 15 households.

Meanwhile, University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate director Richard Green said that the high foreclosure rate in some areas were driven by the rising unemployment rate and significant increase in the number of homeowners losing value on their properties.

On the other hand, S&P/Case Shiller index showed that property prices in twenty major metropolitan places in the country dropped 18.1 percent in April, compared with the same month the previous year. And industry experts are anticipating another wave of foreclosure with unemployment as the major driver.

In June, unemployment rose to 9.5 percent, which was the highest the country has ever experienced since 1983. According to the U.S. Labor Department, the total number of jobs lost since the start of the economic downturn in 2007 already reached about 6.5 million.

The foreclosure crisis started when increasing defaults by subprime loan borrowers who have poor credit caused the housing crisis. The crisis later spread to the prime loan borrowers as home prices and sales dropped drastically.

Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that as of May 28, about 29 percent new foreclosure properties on repo home listing came from credit worthy homeowners.

More data showed that the number of foreclosure filings nationwide reached a total of 1,905,723 in the first six months of 2009. Foreclosure filings include notices of default and auction and bank foreclosures.

Statewide, Florida was ranked as the third highest in the country in terms of foreclosure rate, with 3.08 percent of homeowners receiving one foreclosure filing for repo home listing.

Related Posts:

• Illinois Repo Properties Surge in June
• Home Sales, Prices Stable Despite Onslaught of House Repos
• Northeast Region Repo Home Listing Auctions Scheduled
• More Unemployed, More Bank Foreclosed Home
• Report: Rising Number of Repossessed Home a Sign of Trouble