NYC Foreclosures Dropped 25% Last Year
Fewer foreclosures? That’s great, right? Unfortunately, there’s more to it than that.
While the foreclosure filing rate dropped by 24.9% in the city and a remarkable 45% in Queens, city Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli points out that this isn’t necessarily indicative of the market bouncing back.
Foreclosure filings may be down, but mortgage delinquencies, which are the precursor to foreclosures, are up in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. “The growing percentage of mortgages in the foreclosure process is a more precise indicator of the continuing fallout from the housing crisis and recession,” said DiNapoli.
For 2010, Brooklyn took home a prize they probably would have gladly forfeited: They overtook Queens for the largest number of foreclosure filings, with the neighborhood of East New York / Starrett City leading the way. In the midst of it all, that nasty word rears its ugly head again: subprimes. In 9 out of 10 neighborhoods with the highest foreclosure rates, 40-50% of the mortgages issued in the 2004-2006 time frame were subprimes.
While there seems to be an upswing in some areas, New York is still on the short list of eleven markets that hit their low point just last month. It’s a tough world out there, but a word to the wise: whenever you think you have it bad, look around. At least you’re not living in Phoenix, where 70% of homes that have a mortgage were at risk of foreclosure in January. It’s anybody’s guess where the bottom of the market is, but increased activity by investors is shedding hopeful light on an otherwise dismal situation.
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