More Church Properties for Sale

Churches with repo properties for sale signs are becoming a common sight across the country. Industry experts said that more and more parsonages, church schools, church buildings and other properties have become victims of the same monster that has devastated both the housing and commercial real estate markets across the country. And experts are not sure how long foreclosures would continue to devastate the secular real estate.

One of the congregations that failed to save its home from foreclosure is Naples, Florida-based First Assembly of God. Construction on the $3.2 million family worship center came to a halt last month when membership contributions dropped by almost two-thirds.

Some members of the First Assembly congregation are homeless, while others are unemployed. Others who pledged to help finance the construction for the building had a change of heart for fear that the church will become bank foreclosure properties for sale. Foreclosure proceedings on the church building have been going on for some time now.

Following the footsteps of the Naples church is the Progressive Baptist Church located in Temple Hills, Maryland. The congregation owes over $2.86 million mortgage debt and $1.88 million overdue federal and state taxes for the 11.7-acre campus consisting of a house, church and school buildings.

According to industry experts, economic recessions do not necessarily mean a drop in church donations. In the 10 years that sporadic economic distress occurred, between 1968 and 2005, church donations dropped in only three years. However, the current recession is turning out to be different from previous economic downturns in terms of its impact.

Results of a study showed that 20 percent of Americans have reduced their church giving, severely affecting church finances in such a way that has never been experienced in the previous recessions. This resulted to more churches struggling financially. Furthermore, church lenders reported more delinquency problems this year compared with previous years.

Industry experts said that the collapse of the religious real estate is partly attributed to overbuilding and easy credit. In the past, credit is easy to get in the religious real estate because churches were regarded as good credit risks. In 1997, church construction amounted to $3.8 billion and in 2007, it reached almost $6.2 billion.

Now, with collections dwindling and construction financing drying up, many congregations are finding themselves with no places to worship as church properties for sale grew by the numbers every day.

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