More in danger of losing homes
Foreclosures soar in metro Detroit, even in Oakland
August 15, 2007
BY EMILIA ASKARI, GRETA GUEST and VICTORIA TURK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Foreclosure rates in metro Detroit have grown worse this year, with even wealthier communities like West Bloomfield seeing more residents facing removal from their homes.
From Jan. 1 through late last month, Oakland County had 3,389 foreclosures, according to the county's equalization division. That's an increase of 21% over the first seven months of last year, when 2,806 foreclosures occurred in one of the nation's richest counties.
Wayne and Macomb counties were hit even harder in the first half of this year -- with reported foreclosure rates more than 50% higher than in the first half of 2006.
While struggling Oakland County cities like Pontiac (446) and Southfield (415) are battered with foreclosures, places like West Bloomfield -- with 160 through late July -- Farmington Hills (167) and Troy (105) are not immune.
"Just because someone is wealthy doesn't mean they manage their cash well," said Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
So many people in West Bloomfield -- average household income $90,000-plus -- are worried about foreclosure that Oakland County Commissioners Marcia Gershenson and Karen Spector have scheduled a home retention seminar Aug. 29 at the township library.
"Our citizens are hurting and we're here to help them," Spector said Monday. "A lot of people don't know that there are options to get them out of this. They just feel so alone and so afraid of what will happen."
Real estate agent Marshall Mandell of RE/MAX Classic in Farmington Hills said Monday that in the last couple of months he has seen more residents trying desperately to sell their homes before the bank kicks them out.
"All of sudden, a ship can sink," he said. "It touches everyone, from the top to the bottom."
One middle-aged woman in West Bloomfield said Monday that she tried but failed to sell her home in the Cumberland Commons subdivision for $290,000 -- a home with $425,000 left on the mortgage.
She said her husband died last year about the same time she lost her job.
Now, she plans to leave the state to live with her adult children.
"I'll just have to go with the change, whatever that will be," said the woman, who requested anonymity. "I have no choice. So I'm counting my blessings. My children are fabulous and I'm healthy and it's a beautiful day today."
Karry Rieth, manager of Oakland County's community and home improvement division, said he expected more grim news in 2007. "We're well on track to exceed last year's foreclosure numbers in Oakland," he said.
Oakland County officials expect about 7,800 foreclosures in 2007, Spector says.
In Macomb County, foreclosures are up 52% in the first half of 2007 over the same period last year, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that compiles foreclosure data nationwide.
In Wayne County, foreclosures increased 51% in the same span, RealtyTrac said.
The rate of foreclosures in Wayne County -- one per every 29 homes -- is the second-highest in the country for the first half of the year, RealtyTrac said Tuesday. Only Stockton, Calif., had a higher rate among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas.
A note of caution: RealtyTrac's estimates tend to be significantly higher than what the counties themselves report. And Macomb and Wayne counties could not immediately provide the detailed numbers the Free Press received from Oakland County.
Nevertheless, the peak of loan delinquencies hasn't been hit yet, said Duncan, the Mortgage Bankers economist.
Many adjustable-rate mortgages will reset to higher interest rates in the next year or two, possibly putting higher monthly payments out of reach for borrowers, he said.
With the tightening of capital markets, Duncan said, the days of people borrowing their way out of bad financial decisions are likely over, and that means more loan delinquencies and foreclosures.
"It is difficult at the moment to see the sun or the silver lining," Duncan said. "But at the end of the day 94% of Americans with a mortgage are paying on time, and 35% of Americans don't have a mortgage at all.
"The big picture is not a grim picture."
Foreclosures soar in metro Detroit, even in Oakland
August 15, 2007
BY EMILIA ASKARI, GRETA GUEST and VICTORIA TURK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Foreclosure rates in metro Detroit have grown worse this year, with even wealthier communities like West Bloomfield seeing more residents facing removal from their homes.
From Jan. 1 through late last month, Oakland County had 3,389 foreclosures, according to the county's equalization division. That's an increase of 21% over the first seven months of last year, when 2,806 foreclosures occurred in one of the nation's richest counties.
Wayne and Macomb counties were hit even harder in the first half of this year -- with reported foreclosure rates more than 50% higher than in the first half of 2006.
While struggling Oakland County cities like Pontiac (446) and Southfield (415) are battered with foreclosures, places like West Bloomfield -- with 160 through late July -- Farmington Hills (167) and Troy (105) are not immune.
"Just because someone is wealthy doesn't mean they manage their cash well," said Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
So many people in West Bloomfield -- average household income $90,000-plus -- are worried about foreclosure that Oakland County Commissioners Marcia Gershenson and Karen Spector have scheduled a home retention seminar Aug. 29 at the township library.
"Our citizens are hurting and we're here to help them," Spector said Monday. "A lot of people don't know that there are options to get them out of this. They just feel so alone and so afraid of what will happen."
Real estate agent Marshall Mandell of RE/MAX Classic in Farmington Hills said Monday that in the last couple of months he has seen more residents trying desperately to sell their homes before the bank kicks them out.
"All of sudden, a ship can sink," he said. "It touches everyone, from the top to the bottom."
One middle-aged woman in West Bloomfield said Monday that she tried but failed to sell her home in the Cumberland Commons subdivision for $290,000 -- a home with $425,000 left on the mortgage.
She said her husband died last year about the same time she lost her job.
Now, she plans to leave the state to live with her adult children.
"I'll just have to go with the change, whatever that will be," said the woman, who requested anonymity. "I have no choice. So I'm counting my blessings. My children are fabulous and I'm healthy and it's a beautiful day today."
Karry Rieth, manager of Oakland County's community and home improvement division, said he expected more grim news in 2007. "We're well on track to exceed last year's foreclosure numbers in Oakland," he said.
Oakland County officials expect about 7,800 foreclosures in 2007, Spector says.
In Macomb County, foreclosures are up 52% in the first half of 2007 over the same period last year, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based company that compiles foreclosure data nationwide.
In Wayne County, foreclosures increased 51% in the same span, RealtyTrac said.
The rate of foreclosures in Wayne County -- one per every 29 homes -- is the second-highest in the country for the first half of the year, RealtyTrac said Tuesday. Only Stockton, Calif., had a higher rate among the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas.
A note of caution: RealtyTrac's estimates tend to be significantly higher than what the counties themselves report. And Macomb and Wayne counties could not immediately provide the detailed numbers the Free Press received from Oakland County.
Nevertheless, the peak of loan delinquencies hasn't been hit yet, said Duncan, the Mortgage Bankers economist.
Many adjustable-rate mortgages will reset to higher interest rates in the next year or two, possibly putting higher monthly payments out of reach for borrowers, he said.
With the tightening of capital markets, Duncan said, the days of people borrowing their way out of bad financial decisions are likely over, and that means more loan delinquencies and foreclosures.
"It is difficult at the moment to see the sun or the silver lining," Duncan said. "But at the end of the day 94% of Americans with a mortgage are paying on time, and 35% of Americans don't have a mortgage at all.
"The big picture is not a grim picture."
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