Oklahoma Foreclosure Rate Rises Drastically

Posted in Foreclosure, August 31st, 2006 |

A new study shows home foreclosures in Oklahoma have jumped 45 percent in the last year. Oklahoma now has the 13th highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

One out of every 476 homes in Tulsa County is under foreclosure, which is more than two-and-a-half times greater than the national average. Tulsa County’s ratio is the highest in the state, slightly above Oklahoma County’s rate of one per 526 homes. This is not surprising, since urban areas around the country seem to have witnessed the highest spikes in the upward trend in foreclosure rates.

As usual, Tulsa’s high foreclosure rate is largely attributed to rising interest rates and variable rate loans. Unliked fixed-rate loans that maintain the same monthly payment through the life of the loan, variable-rate loans change the monthly payment as interest rates change. For people who can’t afford to keep up with the increasing payments, default and a subsequent foreclosure becomes a problem very quickly.