Foreclosure Filings Double in Palm Beach County, Florida
New foreclosure filings in Palm Beach County, Fla., nearly doubled last month as homeowners struggled with declining home values, plunging sales and soaring inventory, the Palm Beach Post reports today.
The details:
- One in every 642 households in PBC was in some stage of foreclosure in October, more than 1.5 times the national rate.
- The number of new foreclosure filings in the County leaped to 866 from 453 in October 2005, a 91 percent jump. There were 873 foreclosure filings in September.
- Florida foreclosure filings more than doubled in Martin County - to 78 last month from 35 in October 2005 - but that market is small. There were 55 filings in September.
- St. Lucie County, meanwhile, saw foreclosure filings, 28 percent over the previous October, to 133 from 104. There were 190 filings in September.
Analysts don’t know why local foreclosure filings have seesawed up and down for months, but defaults aren’t likely to nosedive consistently any time soon. The dramatic inventory glut in Florida - and such a disparity between prices and incomes - has left the market susceptible to foreclosures.
After leading the nation in new foreclosure filings in September, Florida ranked No. 2 last month, behind California. One in every 640 households in the state in some stage of foreclosure, thanks in part to many resetting adjustable-rate Florida mortgage loans wreaking havoc on borrowers.
New foreclosure filings in Florida totaled 11,413 last month, up 50 percent over October 2005’s 7,629 filings. The growing number of foreclosures in an already unstable market is exacerbated by $1.2 trillion in adjustable-rate first mortgage loans that are beginning to reset.
Many who financed their home purchases with “exotic” or non-traditional mortgages are young, first-time homeowners, real estate consultant Jack McCabe of Deerfield Beach said. He has some advice for them:
“If you have not refinanced your ARM (adjustable-rate mortgage) into a mortgage that is fixed for at least the next five years, you should do so in the very near future to protect your financial well-being and your family.”
Nationally, more properties entered foreclosure in October than in any other month this year. A total of 115,568 properties entered some stage of foreclosure, up 42 percent compared with the 81,351 filings in October 2005.