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The surge in foreclosure listings nationwide resulted in one of the worst economic downturn seen in the U.S. in decades. The problem happened in almost all parts of the country. In Virginia, several local areas' housing markets are still reeling, thereby causing the region's economic recovery to stall. Foreclosures and vacant residences continue to flood some parts of the state.

The rise in Richmond and Big Island foreclosures and distressed properties in other metro areas of Virginia was somehow expected, some analysts have opined. They stated that when the housing market crisis hit, big cities were the ones expected to be affected. However, there are also smaller rural areas and towns that experienced considerable increases in foreclosures, while others saw their housing markets slumping as various factors hammer the sector.

The oversupply of houses under foreclosure listing in Virginia was largely blamed for the economic difficulty that continues to plague the town of Culpeper. According to local economists, the area experienced massive housing growth before the crisis, with thousands of new homes being built in former farm fields. When the housing sector tanked, a lot of people, particularly at the west side of the town, lost their residential properties to foreclosure. Now, homebuilders are reporting that they hardly had any home construction activity in the region for the past seven or so years.

With foreclosure listings nationwide projected to rise again within the year, a lot of local homebuilders have changed course and are now involved in property management or have totally turned their backs on real estate. A big number though, have opted to build rental properties, with most of the stock coming from foreclosed homes being sold at discounted prices in the town.

According to real estate market observers in the region, the massive supply of properties under foreclosed bank and FHA listings has resulted in decreases in property values and increase in the number of empty houses. The worst of it was that Culpeper is heavily reliant on the real property market in terms of the direction of its economy. With most analysts expecting the housing market to take at least two years to return to pre-crisis level, economists stated that this means that the town's economy may also take that long to stabilize.

Culpeper was not the only local market in the U.S. whose economy is driven mainly by the residential property sector. With foreclosure listings nationwide up for another increase in the coming months, most people expect the whole nation's economy to continue to drag its feet forward.

The surge in the number of properties falling under foreclosures listings was just one of the reasons cited for the rise in several New York areas' vacancy rates in the past 10 years. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that between 2000 and 2010, vacancy levels in areas like Ulster, Sullivan and Orange have jumped by more than 20%.

Relative to other major U.S. markets, Long Island foreclosure listings, foreclosed property numbers in the Hudson region and distressed home totals in most boroughs of New York City can be considered manageable. However, the rise in foreclosure numbers was also felt in the region, with a big number of state residents leaving houses vacant and apartments empty of tenants.

Aside from the growth of foreclosure listings in New York, analysts stated that overbuilding during the real estate boom was also to blame for the surge in vacant premises in the mid-Hudson region, particularly in Orange County. The increase in the number of vacation dwellings in the region of Catskills also contributed to the rise in vacancy levels since these homes are considered empty when Census counts are made. As of last year, census reports showed that the three counties have a combined vacancy rate increase of 21.4% during the past decade.

Among the three markets, Orange County was considered the area most affected by foreclosures listings and overbuilding during the pre-crisis period. The population of the county surged by 9.2% during 2000-2010, while vacant homes increased by 39% during the same period. Census data also showed that over 8% of residential properties in the area were vacant.

Although New York had some of the lowest house foreclosures by state, residential property data showed that a big percentage of the empty houses in Orange County were accounted for by foreclosed and bank owned houses. The high level of distressed properties in the region, local realtors revealed, was due to overzealous developers who, prior to the housing market crisis, thought that by building more houses, more people will move into the region and more buyers will purchase these homes.

When the crisis hit, the area was left with an oversupply of over-priced dwellings that no one is willing to buy and not a lot of people can afford, with most of these unsold properties ending at foreclosures listings. Realtors also attributed the high vacancy rates to the recession that hammered the nation around two years ago which produced a more cautious attitude among consumers.