For nearly four months now, homes in Lakeland, Florida and the rest of our state have combined with homes in California and Nevada to comprise more than 50 percent of the US homes currently in foreclosure.
As reported by RealtyTrac.com, the states making up the rest of the Top 10 Foreclosure States in America include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, Ohio, Illinois and Colorado.
From a more local standpoint, the June 2009 Florida Foreclosure Rate Heat Map, pulled from RealtyTrac, shows the areas where foreclosure activity is at its peak. Polk County falls about midway, with Lee, Collier, Lake, Volusia, and Clay counties suffering higher foreclosure activity.
A closer look at the Polk County, Florida June 2009 Foreclosure Heat Map shows that the Winter Haven and Davenport areas have been hit hardest by foreclosures. This makes sense as the last home building push centered around the Thompson Nursery Road area of Winter Haven as well as in the Davenport area in general.
Government Efforts to Stem Foreclosure Tide Not Keeping Up
June’s reported foreclosure figures are consistent with the data from earlier this year, suggesting that the foreclosure remedy plans put forth by the government and by lenders can barely keep pace with the national default rate.
Looking back at the May 2009 foreclosure numbers, foreclosure-related actions across the country are up about 5 percent.
If there is a silver lining in all of this, it’s that foreclosures are creating tremendous buying opportunities for the right buyers.
Because foreclosed homes tend to sell at a discount versus non-foreclosed homes and because mortgage rates are still relatively low, home sales are remaining steady in a good many markets. All told, distressed homes measured up to about one-third of existing home sales for May.
You can search through the complete June 2009 foreclosure report for yourself, including foreclosure heat maps and other trends on the RealtyTrac website.
Hey Petra, this is one of the best foreclosure market reports I’ve seen lately, and thanks for the video as well! The Polk County, Florida Foreclosure Heat Map is especially informative.