Area foreclosure filings continue climb
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Daniel Carson
PANAMA CITY
The number of Bay County foreclosures took a sizable leap last year, and a spokesman for a national foreclosure tracking company said Tuesday it appears that trend will continue in 2008.
?It does look like the activity?s going to be high in 2008,? said Daren Blomquist, marketing and communications manager for Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. He said that makes sense given many homeowners? adjustable rate mortgages will reset this year.
The company released its year-end 2007 market report Tuesday. More than 1 percent of all U.S. households were in some phase of the foreclosure process last year, up from about half a percent in 2006, according to the report. Nevada, Florida, Michigan and California posted the highest foreclosure rates, the company said.
According to the report, there were 960 Bay County foreclosure filings in 2007, up 51 percent from 2006. Filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, with some properties with multiple mortgages receiving more than one notice.
That year-end total included 159 Bay County filings alone in December, and 364 for the fourth quarter of 2007, a 123-percent increase from fourth quarter 2006. There was one Bay County foreclosure filing for every 94 area households in 2007, compared to one filing for every 30 households statewide and one for every 57 nationally.
Walton County foreclosure filings rose 97 percent in 2007, with both counties falling below the state?s 124-percent foreclosure filing increase compared to 2006.
RealtyTrac?s report also indicated that many homeowners nationwide started to fall behind on mortgage payments in the last three months, setting the stage for more foreclosures this year, according to The Associated Press.
Blomquist said that since RealtyTrac began tracking foreclosures in 2005, there consistently has been a big filing leap in the first quarter of the year.
Whether that occurs in 2008 depends in part on further government intervention in the housing market, Blomquist said.
He also said lenders had adopted a different attitude in recent months and were looking to find more foreclosure alternatives.
Bay County foreclosure filings 2005-07
2005: 570
2006: 634
2007: 960
Walton County foreclosure filings, 2005-07
2005: 67
2006: 175
2007: 345
Source: RealtyTrac Inc.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Daniel Carson
PANAMA CITY
The number of Bay County foreclosures took a sizable leap last year, and a spokesman for a national foreclosure tracking company said Tuesday it appears that trend will continue in 2008.
?It does look like the activity?s going to be high in 2008,? said Daren Blomquist, marketing and communications manager for Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac. He said that makes sense given many homeowners? adjustable rate mortgages will reset this year.
The company released its year-end 2007 market report Tuesday. More than 1 percent of all U.S. households were in some phase of the foreclosure process last year, up from about half a percent in 2006, according to the report. Nevada, Florida, Michigan and California posted the highest foreclosure rates, the company said.
According to the report, there were 960 Bay County foreclosure filings in 2007, up 51 percent from 2006. Filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, with some properties with multiple mortgages receiving more than one notice.
That year-end total included 159 Bay County filings alone in December, and 364 for the fourth quarter of 2007, a 123-percent increase from fourth quarter 2006. There was one Bay County foreclosure filing for every 94 area households in 2007, compared to one filing for every 30 households statewide and one for every 57 nationally.
Walton County foreclosure filings rose 97 percent in 2007, with both counties falling below the state?s 124-percent foreclosure filing increase compared to 2006.
RealtyTrac?s report also indicated that many homeowners nationwide started to fall behind on mortgage payments in the last three months, setting the stage for more foreclosures this year, according to The Associated Press.
Blomquist said that since RealtyTrac began tracking foreclosures in 2005, there consistently has been a big filing leap in the first quarter of the year.
Whether that occurs in 2008 depends in part on further government intervention in the housing market, Blomquist said.
He also said lenders had adopted a different attitude in recent months and were looking to find more foreclosure alternatives.
Bay County foreclosure filings 2005-07
2005: 570
2006: 634
2007: 960
Walton County foreclosure filings, 2005-07
2005: 67
2006: 175
2007: 345
Source: RealtyTrac Inc.
