Once Again, Georgia has Third-Worst Foreclosure, Mortgage Default Rate in Country

While there may be legitimate reasons to take out a Georgia mortgage at the moment, those that did so a few years ago are feeling a financial burden. And it’s one almost unprecedented around the country.

With one new foreclosure filing for every 439 households, Georgia had the nation’s third-highest state foreclosure rate for the second month in a row, according to RealtyTrac’s November 2006 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report.

Georgia reported 7,056 properties entering some stage of foreclosure in November - a 2 percent jump from October and a nearly 60 percent increase from November 2005.

The highest rate befell Colorado mortgage holders, while Nevada came in second.

The U.S. Foreclosure Market Report also 120,334 properties across the United States entered some stage of foreclosure during November - an increase of 4 percent from October and a jump of 68 percent from November 2005. The report further shows a national foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 961 U.S. households - the highest monthly foreclosure rate reported so far in 2006.

“Defaults, auctions and bank repossessions all trended higher in November, bringing the year-to-date foreclosure total to almost 1.2 million - up 43 percent from the same 11-month period of 2005,” said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO.

“With home price appreciation slowing, and even declining in some areas of the country, home buyers who stretched themselves financially to purchase a property don’t have much equity to work with if they experience even a small bump in their mortgage rate or disruption in their income.

However, the recent dip in interest rates, combined with relatively low unemployment in most areas of the country, should keep foreclosures from accelerating to the point where they impact the entire housing market.”