Friday, August 11, 2006

Stockton Makes the Top 10 Foreclosure List

The screws tighten:

Stockton landed on the top 10 list of the nation's cities with the highest foreclosure rates in the second quarter, according to a report released Wednesday. The Central Valley city was No. 8 on the list, with 1,228 homes in some stage of foreclosure. That's 1 of every 154 homes, or 2.3 times higher than the national average, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.

Modesto's Roxanne Myers is caught in a refinancing dilemma, she said. She has an adjustable-rate mortgage that's about to go higher, so she wants to refinance. However, she also can't afford the monthly payment on a fixed-rate mortgage, she said. "It's scary," Myers said. "I'll probably get another ARM that's fixed for five years. "I don't want to sell, but that may become a reality."

Many borrowers who run into trouble have relatively low incomes or scuffed credit records. But housing counselors say they are also hearing from a growing number of middle- and upper-middle-income borrowers who borrowed heavily to finance spending or buy a house they could barely afford. NeighborWorks Homeownership Center in Sacramento, Calif., says that 38 percent of the borrowers it's seen this year have "moderate or above-moderate" incomes, up from 24 percent last year.

2 comments:

drwende said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Marin Family Guy said...

I hate to say it, but if someone bought more house than they could afford, using an "exotic" mortgage tool, what was the expected outcome when the day of reckoning arrived? That's almost as sad as people who would refi their house, taking out cash, and acted as though it were profit and not just getting a collateralized loan?