Number of Foreclosures Hit Record Levels in Apri
June 13, 2008 · Print This Article
Only less than half of the year has passed, and the real estate industry has already seen some of the toughest times it has faced in history. A real mortgage crunch has hit the market, causing a significant crisis that has shaken both wall street and the average American citizen. With so many Americans unable to meet their loan payments, more and more individuals are losing their homes to foreclosure, the results of which have risen to record levels.
In April, approximately 243,353 households received a foreclosure notice, which comes close to reaching almost one out of every 519 homes in America. This estimation is in accordance with the FMR, or Foreclosure Market Report, delivered by RealtyTrac, a U.S real estate online marketplace that keeps track of foreclosed properties. The values delivered in the report are up 4% from the month of March, and have surpassed the staggering record number of 239,851 that was set in August of 2007.
James Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac, has commented on the issue, saying that the record set in April is the highest total the company has seen since they began issuing the report back in early 2005.
The measure of foreclosures by RealtyTrac includes auction sales, bank repossessions, and notices of default. Over 54k homes were fully repossessed by lenders and banks, according to the FMR.
The real estate market, which was already saturated to begin with, has seen the negative influence of this recent influx of foreclosed homes, causing the already weakened property values to drop even further. As a result of the plunging value of homes, the amount of money that local government can collect in taxes is vastly reduced, significantly hurting the economy in the process.
All across the nation, the prices of homes have fallen over 7% since the beginning of 2008, reaching the lowest levels of value since the 80s. Corresponding to that value is the number of homes on the real estate market, which has shot up over 3% during the month of April.
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