Foreclosure Frequency In Massachusetts Rises 200%
If the rate at which foreclosure homes appeared in Massachusetts seemed to be depressing in the last year, the rate has only worsened in this year. Actually, the trend has reached a cataclysmic low, with the number of Massachusetts foreclosures doubling since the same period last year. Last year, Massachusetts was at the eighteenth position nationwide based on its rate of foreclosures. However, this year, the rank of Massachusetts on this scale has risen to 11th, making it just above Illinois in the foreclosure rates game. If this alarming trend continues in the state, it will soon overtake other states like Arizona, California, Colorado and Nevada and end up in the top five states as per the frequency of their foreclosures.
The single most important reason for this is the dramatic rise in the interest rates over the last year. This has made the payment of mortgages difficult to the average homebuyer in Massachusetts. At the same time, the prices of real estate have gone low due to the proliferation of the soft housing business within the state. Low prices mean that the houses cannot be sold profitably and it also reduces other credit options like equity. In 2008, people who have mortgages on their homes are finding monthly payments very difficult and are also not able to realize credit through other means such as equity on their homes. That is the reason these people are considering liberating themselves from these mortgages by putting their homes on foreclosures for sale.But this unhealthy trend of increasing arrivals of foreclosed homes in Massachusetts is expected to increase due to the incentives that the lenders are offering to potential borrowers so that they consider acquiring homes on mortgages. This is making the issue of pre-foreclosures and foreclosures much larger in the state as these borrowers discover midway through their mortgage that they are not able to keep up with the monthly payments.
