Home Mortgage Refinancing Unable to Control Rising Foreclosures
Despite the launch of various federal government-supported programs, like home mortgage refinancing efforts that are meant to prevent foreclosures, the number of foreclosed properties continues to rise in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. According to local housing data, foreclosures have been increasing in the county for the past 10 years, with the recent economic recession becoming the strongest catalyst behind the crisis.
Housing market analysts are expecting around 2,600 foreclosures to be recorded in the county by the end of 2010. The projected number was based on latest housing figures which showed that as of September of this year, 1,893 properties have already fallen into foreclosure. As of the middle of November, the number has risen to 2,321.
Local housing data showed that about 10 foreclosures are being processed each day at the county. If the number continues to rise, the county is facing a record year in terms of foreclosures, although officials stated that this cannot be verified until early next year. They stated that there is still hope that troubled homeowners will be able to pay their delinquent loans or get home mortgage refinancing.
County officials have explained that before a foreclosed home can be sold at a Sheriff's sale, homeowners can explore other alternatives like paying part of the delayed loans, refinancing their loans or finding other ways to come up with the money necessary to cover past due payments. The rising number of delinquent homeowners is raising concerns that foreclosures will only get worse in the county before they get better.
Last year, a total of 2,498 foreclosures were recorded in the area. This is higher than the 2,079 posted in 2008 and higher still than the 1,660 recorded in 2007. Based on these figures, local officials stated that it is obvious that the numbers are following an upward trend and it seems that they will be even higher for this year.
Officials have stated that the rising number of foreclosures shows that options like home mortgage refinancing and other government-supported efforts are unable to stem the tide of foreclosure. They added that they expect foreclosures to continue to flood the area until the early part of next year.
