Posts (RSS)Foreclosure Lists Keep Growing in Maryland
Unemployment is the major driver of the growing foreclosure lists in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. This is the conclusion made by industry experts who pointed out that the coming wave of foreclosures in the area is linked on unemployment than bad mortgage products.
According to financial advisers, home foreclosures are now affecting people from all walks of life. However, they noted that a great number of troubled borrowers are people who lost their jobs and as a result, also lost their capacity to pay their mortgage.
Albert Kyle, finance professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, said that many of these troubled homeowners would be able to make ends meet for some time, but they cannot do it forever. He added that homeowners who do not want to lose their homes to foreclosures may have used their life savings and credit cards to keep things floating.
Robert H. Campbell and Associates auction operations director Bob Campbell said that homeowners who do not violate the rules are the ones being hit by the foreclosure crisis now.
According to the County Circuit Court records, Anne Arundel County had 325 distressed properties as of July 19, representing a 19 percent increase from the 273 the previous month and twice as much as the 160 in 2007.
And many repo houses are found in Annapolis, Brooklyn Park, Glen Burnie and Pasadena. Campbell said that many foreclosed homes are auctioned back to lenders rather than to people who may consider making them their primary residences.
Circuit Court Clerk Robert P. Duckworth said that the number of foreclose houses in the county could reach by as much as 3,000 by the end of 2009, compared with last year’s 1,692 and 1,921 foreclosures in 2007.
According to Duckworth the county’s economy is slowly bleeding, adding that the June unemployment rate was 6.9 percent, representing nearly 19,000 jobless people.
Industry experts are expecting that the number of foreclosure houses will start climbing in the middle of 2010. They said that the first onslaught of foreclosures due to the subprime mortgage collapse is peaking now, adding that the next tide will reach its peak in 2011.
The rise in the number of filings for foreclosures in Maryland occurred despite Governor Martin O’Malley’s efforts to prevent the spread of the crisis, such as extending the foreclosure process to 150 days and the Bridge to HOPE mortgage program.