Foreclosed home listings in the Milwaukee area are expected to grow as foreclosure filings in the area increased in June from May levels, based on real estate data collected in Wisconsin.
In the Milwaukee County circuit court, foreclosure filings reached 640 by the end of June, an increase from the 527 filings in May and from the 463 filings in June 2008.
Meanwhile, across the state, foreclosure filings in June reached 2,460, an increase of 12 percent from the approximately 2,200 foreclosure filings in May. Some analysts however point out that the month of June had 22 days for business activities while May had only 20 business days.
In May, the state of Wisconsin was 19th in a chart of states with the highest foreclosure rates, based on a nationwide survey of default and foreclosure filings. One house in every 731 housing units in the state was hit with a foreclosure action.
Total foreclosure filings in the state in May reached 3,502 units, with 655 units already in foreclosed home listings. A total of 995 units were given notices of foreclosure sale and 1,852 units were given notices of lis pendens.
One factor for the continued growth of foreclosed home listings in Wisconsin is the significant decline in home values, according to real estate analysts in the area. Many homeowners have chosen to walk away from their mortgages because they believe sacrificing to sustain monthly payments for underwater homes does not make sense.
Also, homeowners who have applied for loan refinancing or loan modification have been rejected because their homes have fallen down steeply in value. Without any other option to take, homeowners just let their houses go to foreclosed home listings.
Another factor for the spike in foreclosures is job loss. The joblessness rate across the state had soared to almost 9 percent, almost twofold the jobless rate in previous years.
In 2005, there were only around 1,025 foreclosures per month in Wisconsin. In the first six months of 2009, the average monthly foreclosure has surpassed 2,480 units.
However, real estate consultants in Milwaukee County explained that the increase in foreclosure filings in June does not show a worrisome trend. They said the increase still mirrors the long-term foreclosure trend in the area.
For the first six months of the year, Milwaukee County averaged around 580 filings a month, which is just ten percent lower than the June foreclosure pace.
Nevertheless, housing analysts expect a big portion of the filings to get added to foreclosed home listings because of the slow pace of the federal foreclosure prevention program.
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