Metro Atlanta Foreclosure Numbers Skyrocket

In one month Atlanta foreclosure notices shot up to 7,000. It is not a good sign for days to come. In 13 counties the number of properties about to be snatched away from their owners shot to 6,992. This is 45% jump over last year’s figures during the same period.

As per the laws of Georgia the lenders have to advertise their desire to sell a unit at a Sheriff’s auction for four consecutive weeks before the scheduled date of sale. But not all the houses appear at the auction because some house owners manage to stave off foreclosures by refinancing, direct selling or by filing bankruptcy. But many go all the way and await the auctioneer’s hammer.

For the fast few years’ foreclosures have been on the rapid increase. Recently it has picked up speed with the fall in the real estate prices. The extraordinary boom in the housing market invited this kind of deflation. Most of the foreclosures stemmed from sub-prime loans – loans advanced to borrowers with poor credit history. These loans were easy to get but difficult to keep alive because of steep interest increases. However many defaulted even before resetting of rates. Some are about to rise and these are causing concern that again the market will be flooded with foreclosed houses and society deluged with evicted families. Others like Dan Immergluck, associate professor of City and Regional Planning Program at Georgia Tech, feels that the crisis has peaked and should start to climb down. But loans given to borrowers with good credit are also being reset and these borrowers will face an unequal struggle balancing income with expenditure causing them, in all probability to lose out to foreclosures.

Numbers are pouring in are bewildering and to find sense out of it is taxing. Some say that the figures are inaccurate with one unit being counted many times as the foreclosure consists of several stages and many houses have multiple mortgages. Cities seem to be more badly hit than the suburbs but the virus is spreading. Those areas that have the strength to bounce back economically are better off than those harassed by unemployment and lay offs. An allegation is being made that the blacks are the worst sufferers as are the senior citizens and those not conversant with English. Whatever the interpretations the numbers do not lie and the foreclosure picture is alarming.

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