Someone told me the other day that that the foreclosing on homes was at an all time high--does anyone know if this is true? I don't think so. Where can you find out facts like this to dispute people that come up with this stuff?
If foreclosures are up, it is likely because "interest only" or once-low variable rate loans are coming due as balloon payments.
"Someone told me the other day that that the foreclosing on homes was at an all time high--does anyone know if this is true?"
I can't verify it, but will say that there are any number of ways to manufacture bad news, if that's what you want or need to do. Home ownership is at an all-time high, too. How many new homes have been built in the past five years? The number of mortgages is also at an all-time high, so even with average levels of default, you can "find" the negative, and report just that.
"Overall, U.S. foreclosure numbers climbed steadily over the course of the year, with more new foreclosures reported in every quarter," according to James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive officer. "This trend appears to be moving the real estate foreclosure market back to its historic levels." Florida led the country and accounted for more than 14% of new foreclosures last year, in spite of a 29% decrease in new foreclosures in the state from the beginning of the year to the fourth quarter.
"This is the third straight month the U.S. foreclosure rate has moved higher, and it's the second straight month new foreclosures have topped 100,000," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "However, several states, including California, Florida, Texas and New York, reported a dip in foreclosures in February. We'll see if the rest of the country follows that trend in March."
Rebecca Gomez, FNC now: surprise -- US economy bustling -- home sales up -- existing home & condo sales up 5.2% -- still buyers looking for homes
Although foreclosures are increasing lately, they are not at an all time high according to RealtyTrac. The excerpted second paragraph from an article with the obligatory MSM negative spin, titled More Americans are losing their homes, is included below (bold font added to emphasize what the MSM wants to discount):
"The number of foreclosures is still low on a historical basis, but it has been rising steadily over the past year, RealtyTrac reported. Job losses in some regions were to blame, but so, too, were risky borrowing practices that left homeowners little wiggle room on their mortgage payments. And with the pace of appreciation stalling and interest rates rising, many economists and industry observers expect the pace of foreclosures to accelerate this year."