Foreclosure Woes In Prince William County

Posted in Foreclosure, March 28th, 2008 |

The number of foreclosed houses in Prince William County has gone up by double since 2007. It points to the worsening of the real estate crisis. According to land records office figures, 306 units were taken back by the bank in February. In the previous year the number was les by 140. In Manassas, Manassas Park and Prince William County the foreclosures rose by 89% during the first two months of 2008 as compared to the same period in 2007. The number of defaults are also rising and soaring. In 2007 there were 3,344 foreclosures, 282 in 2006 and 52 in 2005. Real estate agent Carolyn Capalbo says that there is no slowing down.

In North Virginia Prince William had the highest number of foreclosures with 5.5% of all the houses having entered the foreclosure danger zone. Loudon County came second with 2.8% of the total number of houses sliding into foreclosure. The report was published by George Mason University. Last year the rate for the Washington Metro area was 1.7% high from October to December.

One of the major causes for the high foreclosure rate in Prince William is that a large part of the population consists of Hispanic immigrants. They had dreams which have now turned to nightmares. There are many other causes like predatory lending, job losses especially in the construction sector, and the aggressive anti immigrant policies being pursued. As the mortgage rates continue to rise there are more foreclosures in the offing and the trend will continue in all probability. Spring and summer are usually the seasons when people buy houses but now it is for losing properties.

Local government kitties are in serious difficulty because the property taxes are not being paid. While a house is in foreclosure taxes are not paid – they are paid when the dispute is settled.
Corey A. Stewart of Prince William Board says he views the situation as a short term problem – something that comes in cyclical order. The bust has to follow a boom. The bust of course is the most severe in recent memory but the cycle is bound to pass. That is the silver lining. In fact it has given a rest and pause from the frenetic housing activity that had been going on during the past few years. The market will surely correct itself. The issue is affordable housing.