Texas Foreclosure Listings Increase For April

Posted in Foreclosure, March 17th, 2008 |

In Dallas Fort-Worth the foreclosure postings are 19% higher than what it was in the previous year in the same month. More than 4,100 Fort Worth houses have been listed for the coming month. Dallas county has the largest number of foreclosures waiting in the wings – 1,814 houses. The biggest concentration is in Denton County that saw a jump of 40% in the pending total numbers. The first four months of 2008 saw more than 17,000 units in Dallas – Fort-Worth slipping into the foreclosure zone. It is 21% higher than the fourth quarter of the previous year. Half the numbers are from forced sale of the properties. Sometimes the transaction is delayed when an agreement between the lender and borrower is worked out. In 2007 43,000 Dallas – Fort Worth houses had been listed.

George Roddy of Foreclosure Listing Service comments that it seems that Denton County is on fire, fueled by foreclosures. It is linked with the recent spate of development in the county. Perhaps this is the cause behind the increase of foreclosures in the new subdivisions. Apart from blaming the sub-prime mortgages Roddy also takes the residents to task for over spending. Roddy adds with a note of alarm that the foreclosure crisis is spreading. Even expensive units are now being listed.

Across the nation foreclosures rose by 60% in February. The wave is dangerous. Reacting to it Federal Reserve Chairperson Ben Bernanke promised that he would do all the can to help the foreclosure victims using authority, expertise and available resources. He was speaking at the annual meeting of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Many feel that the country is on the verge of recession. Bernanke did not speak on new steps but rather dwelt on the ones that have already been taken. Action is being taken against rogue lenders for their dubious lending operations. Although the worst hit have been those with low credit ratings the latest trend is that foreclosures are spreading to credit worthy borrowers also. The end of 2007 saw about one in five of outstanding mortgages already in delinquency. It calculated to about 3.6 million. It is four times higher than what the numbers were in 2005. Also noteworthy is that in 2007, 45% of the foreclosures stemmed from prime, near-prime and government supported mortgages. Both lenders and borrowers are in a soup with the financial houses suffering multibillion losses. There is a scramble for solutions.