Foreclosed Filings Up in Indiana, North Carolina
Foreclosed Filings Up in Indiana, North Carolina
Many states saw their foreclosed filings jumped in numbers last month. Two of the states that experience foreclosure filing gains are Indiana and North Carolina.
Industry analysts said that the high unemployment rate in Indiana is the main factor that pushed foreclosure filings to jump by 8.4 percent in July. Market data showed that foreclosure filings were posted on 5,186 properties last month, representing an 8.4 percent gain from the same month a year ago.
The gains incurred by Indiana last month earned the state the 17th spot on the national ranking of highest foreclosure filings. Industry analysts said that the state is now in a much better position compared to previous years when it was one of the country’s top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rate.
However, the July figures showed that Indiana’s foreclosure problem remains unabated despite federal and state efforts to alleviate the intensity of the crisis. Analysts said that the major factor that has been pushing up foreclosure rates is unemployment. The state’s June unemployment rate peaked at 10.7 percent, an increase of 0.1 from the previous month’s 10.6 percent. Last year, about 100,000 job losses were reported in the manufacturing sector.
Analysts said that factors driving foreclosures have changed since last year. The bulk of homeowners who lost their properties to foreclosure were holders of adjustable-rate and subprime loans. This year, majority of homeowners who are at-risk of foreclosures are unemployed.
Analysts noted that many homeowners who are seeking assistance are struggling to meet their monthly mortgage payments because they have been laid off, little income or made to work with reduced wages.
And what worsens the situation for these struggling homeowners who have just lost their jobs is that they are not even eligible to receive the federal government’s mortgage modification program. The Making Home Affordable Program requires that loan payments should not be more than 31 percent of the gross monthly income of the distressed homeowner.
Meanwhile, notices of defaults, auctions and bank repossessions were filed on 3,428 properties in North Carolina last month. The figures represented 7.97 percent gain from June and earned the state the number 36 position nationwide in terms of high foreclosure filings.
North Carolina’s foreclosure filing ratio of one in every 1,203 housing units represented a decline of 20.33 percent from July the previous year.