New Hampshire Has Weathered The Foreclosure Storm

August 29th, 2007 | Tags: Foreclosure

The thunder and storm of foreclosures did not spare New Hampshire. Figures in Hillsborough County send shivers with increases doubling and quadrupling since last year. Unsold houses are desperately calling out to buyers. Nevertheless as compared to other states New Hampshire seems to have weathered the storm. Here foreclosure is like the sudden flash of lightning that hits at random its victims. But it does not spread a lingering infection.

In the real estate market it is the same story. Sales went down by 10% during the first half of this year in comparison to last year during the same period. But it held its fort. This cannot be said about other states. Most probably this is because of the location of New Hampshire. In general there is one types of demand for houses – people need to reside at the place where they work. But New Hampshire has apart from this three other types of housing demands – vacation stays, retirement homes, commuter housing for those who work in Massachusetts. Nobody thinks of retiring in Cleveland or Detroit.

The numbers however are gloomy and do not point to a sunny future. In August this year the number of foreclosures was 353 but at the present trend it might well cross 500 before the year is over. Last year the number was less than 300. In 2005 and 2004 the numbers were 101 and 73 respectively.

New Hampshire Banking Department opines that by this year 1,800 houses will foreclose. Next year it will cross 2,000. The department has launched a support plan this month. The primary aim is to educate borrowers about the sub-prime loans – the focus being on those who are already boiling in the soup. Most of those seeking help complained about the lenders but as yet not many have come forward to take advantage of the helping hand that is being extended. The point being underline is – contact the lender as soon the red signal is about to switch on.

New Hampshire is better off because of three reasons. The average income of its residents is relatively high. It ranks fifth in the nation. Secondly as compared to other parts there has not been much activity here by speculators and investors because this group had already got their fingers burnt. Sub-prime lenders too had not honed in here aggressively to make the kills.

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