Article Written By: Karen
When will the US economy be on the recovery track? That is the question which is topmost on the minds of most Americans. As of now, most people do not have jobs. Hence, they are unable to make mortgage payments. So foreclosures are high. In La Plata County in Durango, for instance, foreclosures had hit the roof. Hence, lenders are swooping in on the errant homeowners.There were 297 foreclosures recorded in 09. Last year, foreclosures zoomed past the previous record and reached 324. When compared to the previous decade, there were less than 100 foreclosure filings.In San Juan County, N.M, foreclosures, too, had increased. The increase, was however, less dramatic than in Durango. Last year, there were 342 filings. In 09, the figure was much less at 292. When compared to the boom in 06, the county had only 151 foreclosure filings.The treasurer of La Plata County, Ed Murray, said that more foreclosure cases would have been filed had not the office closed down for the festive season. Also the office had run out of time.It may be pointed out here that not many filings end up in sales. That s primarily because both the lender and the homeowner often come to an agreement on debt. However, the number of filings provides a clue to the economic distress that most people are in.A broker John Wells said it is very difficult to say what will be the trend this year. However, foreclosures are definitely leveling off. An economics professor of Fort Lewis College, Tino Sonora, is however, of the opinion that foreclosures will show no signs of abating this year. Rather they will increase across the nation.After all, unemployment is still very high. Sonora said, "With fairly high unemployment, that's going to continue to put pressure on people who can't pay their mortgages and will probably go into foreclosure," Sonora said. Obviously, very high foreclosures create an excess of supply in the market, bringing down prices.That is primarily because banks sell foreclosed properties at very low prices in order to dispose off them. Even in a small market like Durango s the spate in foreclosures created an impact.Cheryl Ragsdale, San Juan County Board of Realtors president, said that in Farmington, foreclosures have increased home supply in the market. However, that has not affected prices. In Colorado and Mexico, it s a different story altogether.
This Article Has Been Published on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 and Read 231 Times