Worsening Foreclosure Crisis Nationwide

As the housing market slows and payments on Adjustable Rate Mortgages increase, more homes are entering foreclosure than ever before. Bad news regarding the real estate market has come from several sources in the past week, creating an overall pessimistic view for homeowners in hardship situations.

According to the most recent report from RealtyTrac, some 318,355 properties entered some stage of foreclosure in the third quarter of 2006. This is a 17 percent jump from the second quarter of 2006, and a 43 percent rise from last year during the July-September period.

Colorado again posted higher numbers than any other state, with 14,374 total filings. This is equal to one foreclosure for every 127 households in Colorado. Foreclosure rates in this state are up almost 70 percent from third quarter of 2005.

Georgia was close behind Colorado with one property entering into foreclosure for every 195 households, and 15,841 properties entering foreclosure in total in the state. Other states posting high foreclosure rates include Nevada and Florida. Only thirteen states posted a drop in foreclosure rates from third quarter of 2005.

According to James Saccacio, CEO of RealtyTrac, "Higher interest rates and a general softening of the real estate market are the two key factors contributing to the 43 percent increase in foreclosure filings from the third quarter of 2005.” He further stated that, "What our third-quarter research appears to be showing is that the first wave of adjustable rate mortgages is having a negative impact on the number of homes going into foreclosure. With the volume of these loans -- more than $1 trillion of them due to adjust over the next 15 months -- this is a trend that definitely bears watching."

If you have an adjustable rate mortgage that may be increasing soon, you should consider refinancing your loan before it is too late. Especially if you do not have an emergency fund established in case of a financial hardship, you should immediately look into refinancing. Hopefully, an emergency will not arise, but we all know that life happens.

For the readers who are already experiencing the higher costs of Adjustable Rate Mortgages, and are behind on payments, you may want to consider utilizing various sources for refinancing, lender workout programs, or private lenders. You should not allow your lender to take your home from you after forcing you into an adjustable rate mortgage.