The Foreclosure Report

5% Of Colorado Springs Home Loans In Default

A foreclosure report from Colorado. "The home foreclosure rate in Colorado Springs was the 13th highest in 100 metropolitan cities nationwide during the first quarter, according to a research service. However, the rate of foreclosure remained well down from the record highs of the 1980s, when foreclosed homes equaled about 30 percent of total homes. Today's rate equals about 5 percent."

"Colorado Springs is on pace to have more than 2,500 foreclosures this year, compared with 2,289 last year, according to the El Paso County public trustee’s office. The record was 3,476 foreclosures in 1988. Because the city had fewer houses then, the foreclosure rate was much higher, 1 for every 28 households."

"Real estate experts, economists and lenders blamed this year’s rash of foreclosures to heavy consumer debt and increasing mortgage rates. Too many foreclosures could drive down prices, even to the point that a house’s market value is less than the mortgage, said Rick Sharga,VP for RealtyTrac."

"'If they’re concentrated in an area, it will depress the whole area’s pricing,' he said. 'There’s a ripple effect. If it’s severe enough to affect the surrounding community, it can affect the banking community. The mortgages that weren’t going into foreclosure are at risk.'"

"Sharga said there is no way to know how many foreclosures it would take to depress house values. Jay Garten, president of People’s Mortgage Co., one of the city’s largest lenders, said Colorado Springs has not reached that point."

posted by Ben Jones @ 11:21 AM