Foreclosure Facts

Posted at 7:12 PM, Feb. 20, 2008

Despite a growing number of loans due to reset, it is important to realize that most home foreclosures are not due to payment adjustments on mortgages.  In fact, the primary reason people lose their home is due to job loss or other means of a serious income reduction. 

 Just look at the two states that have held the number one and two slot for the most defaulted loans, Michigan and Ohio.  Both have suffered tremendous setbacks with a declining manufacturing base (which accounts for a large population of jobs), low to no population growth and a low demand for housing. 

Other factors such as illness and divorce can add to the above as cash-flow problems which collectively, account for 80% of all mortgage defaults.  Payment adjustments alone accounted for only about 2%.  This helps to keep things in perspective when we see homes in our marketplace that bear the un-mistakeable sign of foreclosure.  Very real circumstances outside of the real estate industry dealt cards to homeowners that had negative effects that perhaps without all the media hype revolving around the mortgage meltdown, would probably have gone unnoticed.  I think overall, we can learn to look at the faces of foreclosures with a bit more empathy as we have all but witnessed it could happen to anyone.