Foreclosure Connections Blog Articles And Foreclosure Information

The ForeclosureConnections.com, an online service that monitors bank repossession activity, reported that the number of default notices for properties in Hampton Roads has increased by 25 percent in October 2008, a rise of 191 percent from 2007 levels. Default notices indicate the start of the foreclosure proceedings.

While homeowners struggled to pay their mortgages, banks foreclosed more houses, according to ForeclosureConnections.com.

The number of Virginia foreclosures is higher than the nationwide rate which in October showed a 5 percent increase, 25 percent higher from the same period in 2007. One out of 516 houses in Virginia was in some kind of foreclosure in October.

A decline in the number of home foreclosures was reported, from 227 in September to 183 in October. However, default notices increased to 608, noticeably in Portsmouth, Hampton and Suffolk which all showed a 400 percent rise in foreclosure activity.

Meanwhile, a quarterly survey showed that among homeowners who acquired homes in the area in 2003, 15.7 percent owe more in mortgages than their property’s market value.

The survey also indicated that 34.5 percent of homeowners who acquired their properties in 2008 owe more in mortgages than the property’s market value.

Economist and Old Dominion University president emeritus James Koch says that foreclosure rate will increase substantially if prices of properties continue to deteriorate.

He predicts that an increasing number of homeowners will choose to abandon their homes rather than pay the mortgage which is higher than the property’s market value.

In September, median prices for both existing and new homes in the area declined. An existing house’s median price was $218,500, 5.4 percent lower from August 2008 and about 2.8 percent down from last year’s September price.

On the other hand, a new home’s median price in September was $284,500, 17 percent lower from the same period in 2007.