Finally some numbers to go with all the news. USA Today ran a story called "Foreclosures on the Rise" that shows foreclosure information provided by RealtyTrac. They show each state's 2008 foreclosure rate, comparing that rate to the 2007 rates. The US had a 1.8% foreclosure rate with an 81% change from 2007.
I was surprised to see SC not on top of a "bad" list for a change. That honor went to Nevada with a 7.3% rate and a 125.7% increase from 2007 to 2008 with 77,693 foreclosure filings. The next on the list is Arizona and Florida with a 4.5% rate, California is at 4% and Colorado 2.5%. Vermont is at the other end of the list with a 0% foreclosure rate and had 137 filings in 2008 for a 372.4% increase over 2007.
South Carolina is ranked as 28th with a .8% foreclosure rate, a 253.1% increase over 2007 with 14,995 filings in 2008. SC is followed by Oklahoma #29, Wisconsin #30, and North Carolina #31 all with .8% rate. North Carolina had 33,819 filings for a 16.2% increase over 2007.
The national news organizations make it sound like foreclosures are terrible all over. Even though every foreclosure is bad, we can see where the worse problems are and where most of the foreclosure bail out money is needed and will be used. We can only hope this will plug up the foreclosure holes and will allow the housing market to rebound sooner than later.
Thanks to Mirela Monte from Myrtle Beach for supplying the link to this USA Today story.
