n2008 foreclosures (through today) - 1,381
That’s no typo. Foreclosures for the first nine months of 2008 in Bell County now match last year’s grand total - exactly. With one quarter still left in 2008, this year stands to be the worst on record for borrowers losing their homes, businesses and rural property.
Although foreclosure rates continue to surpass anything Bell County has seen in recent memory, mortgage professionals say there is light at the end of the tunnel.
However, it may look more like a birthday candle than a halogen.
“Bell County is getting close to peaking in the next two to three months. Unfortunately, the numbers aren’t going to go down, but level off,” said George Roddy Sr., president of Texas-based Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.
Roddy said many of the loans that are now headed to foreclosure were funded in late 2004. Subprimes funded after that will surface in the foreclosure statistics of future years.
“This means there is still probably two more years of bad loans out there,” Roddy said.
Trying to curb foreclosures, the federal government stepped in recently by offering incentives for lenders who voluntarily reduce mortgages for “at-risk homeowners.” The plan is designed to help borrowers in danger of losing their home refinance with more affordable mortgages backed by Uncle Sam.
Roddy said the plan is no “panacea” and will not significantly alleviate foreclosures.
The trend toward higher foreclosure rates is especially evident in this month’s figures. For September 2008, Bell County had 157 foreclosures. That’s 49 more than September 2007, a 45 percent increase.
And there’s more. Comparing Bell County to 11 metropolitan areas from Waco to San Antonio for the third quarter in 2008, only Travis County, at 49 percent, posted a higher increase over 2007 numbers.
Karl Voss, senior loan officer with Texas Mortgage in Temple, said it’s hard for borrowers with subprime homes to refinance and stay out of foreclosure.
“Most people haven’t cleaned up their credit. When you get two, three, four months behind, it doesn’t help people with bad credit,” Voss said.
Another factor forcing folks into foreclosure, Voss said, is people who got into homes with zero down, or no skin in the game, have no equity. They may have bought at a time when their home was valued more than it is today. To refinance, Voss said, borrowers should have a house that is worth more than the loan balance.
“The real problem in this area,” Voss said, “people in this area have good jobs, fair credit, they don’t have any money saved. That’s hard to do with the high cost of living.”
