Some very ugly foreclosure numbers
The Bay State may not be a national leader when it comes to the foreclosure epidemic.
That honor still rests with such boomtown states gone bust as Nevada, Arizona and California.
That’s the good news.
But let’s not get smug here.
The latest numbers from RealtyTrac are out, and they don’t look good for Massachusetts.
Foreclosure activity, including initial notices starting the process, auctions and bank repossessions, jumped more than 17 percent over the past three months compared to the spring. And the third quarter numbers, when compared to the same period in 2008, look downright hideous – a 34 percent leap.
Many of the overleveraged homeowners who took out all those goofy subprime loans during the bubble years have been foreclosed on already.
The increase in filings is now being driven by an economy that appears to be on the mend, but is still shedding jobs at a worrisome rate.
Nationally, foreclosure activity skyrocketed 23 percent in the third quarter over the same period in 2008, RealtyTrac reports.
One out of every 136 household across the country got a foreclosure notice or other filing during the quarter – the most since RealtyTrac began tracking these trends in 2005.
Where does it all end?
One answer of course is when the job market finally stabilizes and the unemployment rate finally tops off and starts to come down.
On that score, check out the “Adversity Index’’ put out by Moody’s Economy.com and msnbc.com.
One of five metro areas in the country has emerged from the recession, according to the index’s latest report.
The Cambridge/Metro is one of those lucky few. I live in Natick, so I am ready to really celebrate here!
By contrast, the Boston/Quincy area is still stuck in the downturn.
Such silliness aside, I think we’ll all know when the job market is starting to come back.
And when it does, look for the beginning of the end of the foreclosure madness – at least until the next bubble bursts.
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