Foreclosures in Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton increased
The US is in the throes of a deep recession. Unemployment is at its peak. As people lose jobs, even those with very good credit scores are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become common. According to statistics, foreclosures increased in the initial months of ’10. Foreclosures in certain areas like Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton increased. They jumped by 74 % as compared to the corresponding period in ’09. This was revealed by RealtyTrac, a real estate firm that collates data on foreclosures.
It may be pointed out that one in every 213 homes in counties of Wyoming, Luzerne and Lackawanna, has been foreclosed upon in the first half of the year. This has put the region on top of the heap as far as foreclosures are concerned. In fact, foreclosures are up 80 % from the previous quarter.
Mark Conway, a lawyer based in Dunmore, said, “I would have guessed they were up more than 50 %, but it’s even more staggering. At sheriff’s sales, there use to be 20 or 30 (properties). Now there are 80, 90, 100 or more.”
Across the states, foreclosures also increased by 16 % as compared to the corresponding period of the same year. Data shows that one in every 199 homes has been foreclosed upon.
Experts say that the spate of foreclosures is happening not because of fancy loans that the sub-prime lenders have taken, but because of rising unemployment. Most Americans have either lost jobs or even those who haven’t have undergone pay cuts. Hence, they are not in a position to pay the monthly installments on loans. That is why foreclosures have increased.
An economist in the University of Scranton, Dr. Satyajit Ghosh says that the foreclosure is directly related to recession. The economy is not in a good position. The employment scenario is very bleak. In fact, the rate of unemployment is at an all-time high – the highest that the nation has seen.
As long as the scenario remains like this, there will be people whose expenses will be more than their income. They will be afraid to spend and that will put the economy on the back track. The following statistics support this view. The unemployment level in the city was around 10.4 %. This was the highest in all the state’s 14 metros. There is definitely a correlation between unemployment and foreclosures.
