Foreclosures Haranguing Second Ranking Cities

April 29th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosures

Foreclosure statistics are pouring in by the thousands. The challenge is to categorize them and find out the foreclosures haranguing the second ranking cities. The Warren Group has ranked the cities and towns in Massachusetts according to how many foreclosures per one thousand residential units this year – 2008. Those towns having less than 1,000 residential houses have been excluded. Those included tantamounts to those cities and towns where foreclosures are most intense and concentrated.

Boston heads the race in Massachusetts but in this list it ranks 35th standing between Framingham and Whitman. In proportion to its size the foreclosure problems are not relatively high. Boston’s woes hone in on Dorchester. If Dorchester is taken to be a city then it tops the list with 171 foreclosures – it is more than the all the foreclosures in the rest of Boston. The second rank goes to Worcester. There are 95 cities and town that have not recorded a foreclosure as yet. Brookline is a heavy offender with Lexington and Winchester trailing behind.

The names on the new list are not much different for those compiled for the previous year of 2007. Then Lawrence had ranked first being followed by Brockton. There are 16 cities common to both lists. The top ten rankers have also remained the same. However the foreclosure rates have doubled. In Lawrence in 2007 there were 21 foreclosures per 1,000 units. In Brockton the record shows that there were 17 foreclosures. The task of the analyst is to find the pattern from the lists and mark out the surprises.

In March 1,200 units in Massachusetts were taken over by the lenders, mostly the banks. This showed an increase of 140% from March 2007. During the first quarter of this year the foreclosures in Massachusetts was the highest. It numbered 2,800 – 140% higher than the first quarter of 2007. Although the profile of the foreclosure problems is changing the numbers show that the problem continues to gather speed without showing any signs of slowing down. The foreclosure rescue efforts do not seem to be having any impact worth noticing. The foreclosure numbers in Massachusetts is the highest in this quarter since the early 1990’s. The high water mark of last August – 1,018 has been crossed. The number of petitions to foreclosure went up by 33%. In March 2007 the number was 2,189 but this year in the same month it is 2,918. All this points to a gloomy prediction for the immediate future.