Collier And Lee Counties Continue To Drown In Foreclosures

Posted on July 4, 2008
Filed Under Repo Homes |

Reports coming in show that Collier and Lee counties are continuing to drown in foreclosures. Records are being broken.

Collier saw new foreclosure listings soar to 716. During the first six months of 2008 there were 3,827 foreclosure postings in all. Last year the number was 3,266. There is no doubt that the numbers are indicative of bad days ahead. Obviously none of the preventive measures have worked in Southwest Florida, said Dwight Brock, Collier County clerk.

In the north, foreclosures broke records by touching 2,518 in a month said Charlie Green another county clerk. However the number of foreclosure filings per working day decreased because June noted 23 working days. In May there were 2,356 foreclosures counted in 21 working days. While counting and calculating, two days make a difference. In May on an average there were 112 foreclosures per working day as compared to 109 foreclosures per working day in June.

February held the highest record. In 21 days there had been 2,463 foreclosures that calculated to an average of 117 filings for each working day. In Lee County there were 17,417 foreclosure postings in the previous fiscal year – that is from June 2007 to the end of May 2008. The number is four times higher than that noted for the previous fiscal year.

Brock had been optimistic when the foreclosure filings in Collier dropped in February (albeit slightly) and then again in April. But his hopes have been dashed with the recent reports of increases. This shows that the real estate market continues to nurse problems.

Glenn Ginsburg of Delta Realty who deals in real estate in North Naples had foreseen this debacle coming in the early part of 2007 but had never anticipated that it would get this bad. He added “It’s hysteria that’s setting in.” Owners are traumatized seeing the value of their house plummet. The situation is so bad that they do not want to fight for the house anymore. Its worth has become less than the loan amount. So they have stopped paying the mortgage dues and returning them to the lenders.

The Fort Myers and Cape Coral had the second highest number of foreclosures in the entire country during May 2008 with a rate of 1:79. Stockton occupied the first position with a rate of 1:75. These regions had seen frenetic housing activity during the boom period.

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