Richmond area’s foreclosure problem getting worse
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FORECLOSURE RANKINGS Here's how the rate of foreclosures stacks up for the first half of the year. RealtyTrac's report includes 203 U.S. metro areas. • U.S.: one in every 84 households received at least one foreclosure notice • Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.: No. 1, with one in every 13 households • Washington-Arlington-Alexandria: No. 55, one in every 73 households • Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News: No. 92, one in every 129 households • Richmond area: No. 103, one in every 144 households • Roanoke area: No. 133, one in every 189 households • Burlington-South Burlington, Vt.: No. 203, one in every 8,066 households SOURCE: RealtyTrac |
The foreclosure problem in the Richmond area has gotten worse, according to a midyear metropolitan market report released this morning by RealtyTrac.
More people here are having trouble paying their mortgages, although the actual rate of foreclosures in the region is better than the national average, the online researcher reported.
One in every 144 households in the Richmond area, or 0.70 percent of all households -- a total of 3,549 -- received a foreclosure filing from January through June, the online researcher reported.
The region was ranked at No. 103 of 203 metro areas in the report.
Las Vegas has the worst foreclosure problem in the country. One in every 13 households there, or 7.45 percent of all houses -- a total of 58,691 -- received at least one notice of default, foreclosure sale or repossession in the first half of the year.
Nationally, 1.5 million households -- or one in every 84, nearly 1.2 percent of all households -- struggled with their mortgage payments. The number of U.S. foreclosure filings rose 9.5 percent in the January through June period from the previous six months and 14.7 percent from the same period a year ago.
Despite the better rate in this region, the numbers here rose faster than they did nationally. Foreclosure filings in the Richmond area rose 21 percent in the first half of the year from the previous six-month period and 33 percent from the same period a year ago.
"Richmond seems to be on a steeper trajectory than the national average, but the foreclosure rate continues to be below the national rate," said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.
"One of the trends we are seeing with higher rates of increases are areas that have seen jumps in unemployment," Blomquist said. The unemployment rate in the Richmond region more than doubled to 8.4 percent in July from the same month a year ago, with job losses mounting from major employers that folded.
"Just as the government caught up with foreclosure problems by doing more loan modifications, a whole new cause for foreclosures has erupted," Blomquist said. Foreclosures will continue to rise as more people are laid off and can't make their mortgage payments, he said.
RealtyTrac traces the beginning of this foreclosure cycle to the second quarter in 2007. Virginia numbers started to trend upward in January 2007, reaching the highest point in December 2008. It's unclear now whether that will be the peak.
Contact Carol Hazard at (804) 775-8023 or
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Reader Reactions
The housing market is directly related to the job market. Most jobs have gone over seas which leaves less money for home sales here. Simple supply and demand. Once prices have reached the area income level they will stabalize.
@YankeeGal: Your suggestions are excellent solutions for the banks but what about the borrower? Either way, if they have to foreclose or sell out short they will be at a loss. They are losing their home & walking away with bad credit & no money to help them start over. And Kant Seay, have tried going out in the market and getting a decent rental property after explaining to your new potential landlord the reason you need to move is because you are foreclosing on your house? And chances are, if you could afford to rent a property you could most likely have afforded to keep up your mortgage payments. The reason people would need to resort to renting is because they are foreclosing which means they have lost jobs and cannot find another. Lenders are more than willing to work with you if you have lost your job, fallen behind but are getting back on track. For example, you got a new job. It’s not as easy as it looks.
@ Kant
A person who owes more than their house is worth on the open market has a number of choices. #1 short sell the house—most banks would rather have this than another foreclosed property on their hands or #2. a deed in lieu of foreclosure—the bank gets the house & they get out of it.
J-reb if you owe $300,000 on your mortgage but can only get $275,000 for your house how exactly does selling your house solve your problem?
This dilemma is what is destroying the economy. Declining asset prices and incomes cannot service the debt we ran up during the bubble years. There is no easy way out. One person’s debt is another’s future income.
Obama and the various bailout plans can’t change this dynamic but they can try and kick the can down the road by borrowing even more.
Zero point seven percent is not bad. Not bad at all. Too much drama about this issue nationally.
If you lose your job, or otherwise cannot afford your house, SELL IT. Renting isn’t the end of the world. True, you won’t get a great price in this market, but how exactly is that your neighbors’ fault?
Oh, it’s not? Then why should your neighbors pay for YOUR mortgage? The mass media in this country acts like renting is an unspeakable option, however people have done it since time immemorial, and it sure beats neighborhoods going downhill because of “homeowners” who aren’t up to the task of paying for homeownership.
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