Colorado: State stays No. 1 in foreclosures

[UpInArms]

http://www.chieftain.com/business/1147938866/6

DENVER - Colorado posted the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for the second month in a row in April, the result of what one expert calls a ‘‘perfect storm’’ of debt, unsold homes and bankruptcies.

A report released Tuesday by RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif., found 3,706 homes in Colorado were in foreclosure in April. That equals one of every 494 households; the national average is one in 1,268 households.

<snip>

Colorado kept the top ranking even though the number of foreclosures dropped by 31 percent from March, when 5,392 homes were in foreclosure. Nationally, foreclosures fell 10 percent to 91,168 in April from 101,597 in March.

‘‘There’s a perfect storm’’ behind the high number of Colorado foreclosures, said Mary Wenke, public trustee of Arapahoe County. She said her office opened 436 foreclosure cases last month, compared with 288 in April 2005.

She cited a glut of unsold homes on the market, credit card debt held by homeowners, homes purchased without down payments and a record number of bankruptcies. She also noted that adjustable rate mortgages, whose interest rates are beginning to rise, will mean even more foreclosures in the months ahead.

...more...

[Thickasabrick]

1. But the economy is in great shape

[BlueManDude]

2. I'd love to buy a house in Colo n/t

[serryjw]

9. WE are very proud of this!

:sarcasm: It's helping get my petition for affordable housing on the ballot. The state has gone crazy with creative financing AND we are one of the few states that do NOT license Mortgage brokers......THEY LIE!!!! ANYone whom wants to buy here...WAIT 6 MONTHS!The banks will pay YOU to take it off their hands

[PerceptionManagement]

15. Well apparently, there are some good buys to be had....

[napi21]

3. The reasons given are the same in every state. Why so high in CO?

could see if there was a large employer who close up shop, or a collapse of some industry located there, but the post doesn't say anything about that.

[KarenS]

4. What I heard was that the mortgage industry here is not

regulated or that basically anyone can be a mortgage broker,,,,, something like that,,,, meaning that folks get qualified for houses that shouldn't or that they get qualified for way too much,,,,, I haven't researched this but heard it on a local Air America Radio Saturday show. We are not intending to buy here ~ sooooo.

[Thickasabrick]

5. Colorado - specifically Denver - was one of the first major areas

to experience a slowdown in home prices and sales. NYT featured an article about that area and this subject last year. Everyone else is just now catching up.

[smtpgirl]

6. It will be a domino effect

I live in the DC area.

How many people can afford $400,000 condos???


Not many

[napi21]

8. Oh, I agree! I predicted the biggest problem in the forseeable

future will be people loosing their homes. As soon as I saw lenders granting people zero down loans, variable rates, and 50 year mortgages, I saw TROUBLE!

I truely hope I'm wrong, but things are not improving for the middle to lower middle class in this Country. Unless we atart to see an across the board increase in wages, trouble is just around the corner.

[serryjw]

10. High End Downtown Denver

Is doing well, though it might start slowing down from over building VERY expensive condo's. We are also experience the small tear down to build the McMansion.The damn home equity loans may have had a part of this..everyone pulled equity out & are now upside down on home loans.

quote......
That hasn't been the case in certain areas of Colorado, especially the northeastern metro area.

Adams County continued to lead the state with the highest foreclosure rate, followed by Arapahoe, Denver and Weld counties
end quote........

[niyad]

7. the large military presence might have something to do with it, especially

when thousands of our people are off fighting an illegal, unjust and immoral war--and coming home to no medical care, no mental health care, etc., etc.

[wordpix2]

11. we're experiencing land foreclosures here as well as homes---I'm wondering

if I might be able to afford that nice little 5-acre piece down the road now?

[Tellurian]

12. Mtg Brokers have nothing to do with foreclosures

The lack of employment does. Every mortgage application ultimately has to be underwritten by the lender. Lenders are not in the foreclosure business. They do exhaustive research and verification to ensure the applicant's qualifications are valid and realistic.

It all boils down to income. If you lose your job and are unable to find similar income from another job, the odds are you will end up in foreclosure.

[ConcernedCanuk]

13. Your government is ruining your country - it's that simple

.
.
.

They are driving markets away with their policies to try to rip off other countries with their phony "FREE Trade Agreement" -

AND

even challenging or refusing to accept decisions from the WTO regarding their financial obligations

SOOOOO

We all are looking elsewhere to market our products -

And that includes the lifeblood of the USA's WarMachine - OIL

I remember a scene from the original "Die Hard" movie with Bruce Willis where the Japanese exec told someone that "well, you got us with bombs, but we got YOU with transistor radios"

lotta truth in that

So - the world knows it can't beat the USA with military might, but we can sure beat them by starving them from much needed resources . . .

sumthing to think about . . .

[Voltaire99]

14. Just wait.

McReality is coming to McMansion land.

Great resource for following the deflating bubble:
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/