Portland Foreclosure Rate Up Nearly Double
Is it time to dust off those Carleton Sheets books?
In a study of the top 100 metropolitan areas, Portland ranked 25th in foreclosure rates in the second quarter of 2006, but saw an increase of 188% over Q1. The Q2 stats showed 3,943 foreclosures in the metro area (one out of every 228 households), a little over the national average.
Like Portland, cities like Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington DC reported increases, too, but the majority of the 100 largest metros actually showed decreasing foreclosure activity in the second quarter.
Analysts warn, however, that adjustable rate mortgages taken out during the housing boom will be resetting soon, causing some homeowners to see 20% increases in their mortgage payments. Result: more foreclosures, particularly in markets with slumping real estate activity or economic growth.
Indianapolis (at nearly 1% of households), Atlanta, Dallas, Memphis and Denver were again on the top (or bottom) top of the list of metropolitan foreclosure rates. Here is the dubious Top 10 list:
| Metro Area |
% of households in foreclosure
|
| 1. Indianapolis |
0.987
|
| 2. Atlanta |
0.904
|
| 3. Dallas |
0.891
|
| 4. Denver |
0.784
|
| 5. Austin, Texas |
0.706
|
| 6. Houston |
0.691
|
| 7. Memphis, Tenn. |
0.682
|
| 8. Stockton, Calif. |
0.649
|
| 9. Salt Lake City |
0.607
|
| 10. San Antonio |
0.601
|
I am a little puzzled, with Portland’s relative market strength, as to why the local foreclosure rate is up. Is it from ARMS resetting, inadequate wage growth, overconsumption? Thoughts?
Survey results by RealtyTrac. Business Week has coverage this week on the report.
Technorati Tags: foreclosure, mortgages, ARM, default, Portland, ranking
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7 comments August 10th, 2006
