Foreclosures And Lincoln County

Posted in Foreclosures, March 11th, 2008 |

The Mortgage Bankers Association has released a report that foreclosures have reached record high numbers across the country. About 900,000 are poised to lose their houses. In the South Dakota counties the overall picture is the same.

In Lincoln County there had been a housing boom but this is being quickly followed by an equally frenetic activity in foreclosures. Mortgages had been on an all time high level but today the borrowers are unable to keep pace with the rise in interest rates. Foreclosures have become inevitable. Since the beginning of the year Lincoln County saw 26 foreclosures. At the same time in 2007 there had been only 11 foreclosures here. Craig Markhadt, the President of South Dakota Mortgage Brokers commented that increase in population densities invariably led to rise in foreclosures. The recent growth in number of buildings is seeing an equal rise in number of foreclosures. Experts are a divided lot as to whether the scene is the usual number game or whether it is linked to the national foreclosure crisis.

The local brokers are more realistic. They know that today it is more difficult for potential buyers to get a mortgage loan. Trends running across the country is bound to have repercussions on the counties. South Dakota too is beginning to get infected by the foreclosure fever raging in Michigan, Florida and California. Mortgage lenders have been compelled to tighten their lending practices because of the unprecedented number of foreclosures that hit record levels in 2007. This, according to some, is also one of the reasons why many borrowers are being unable to refinance their mortgages and get out of the clutches of foreclosures by having payments lowered. Mortgage brokers cite divorce and unemployment as other major reasons triggering this crisis.

Analyzing reasons is one thing and tackling the present situation is another. The best way to do so is for people to realize that they are in trouble as soon as the warning lights begin to blink. Delay in action will only worsen matters.

Dennis Johnson, the Lincoln County Sheriff is optimistic that although foreclosures are high this year he is sure that soon they will begin to taper off. For March he has only six units for auction – this number is not above the average. Lincoln County seems to be more hopeful than other parts of the country because foreclosures are not uniformly intense everywhere.