Is Your Neighborhood a Foreclosure Hotspot?
If you saw the Chronicle this morning, like me, the front page headline that grabbed my eye was:
As this Chronicle article noted on Friday, Bay Area foreclosure filings has tripled from a year ago. Some areas obviously feeling the effects more than others. Today’s article breaks down where the hotspots are, as defined by more than 8 of every 1,000 homes actually being repossessed by the lenders. Out of the 236 zip codes within the bay area, more than 10%, 25 to be exact, qualified as a hot spot.
The 94531 area of Antioch is the scorcher, with 23 foreclosures per 1,000 homes. According to the article, this zip code had all the “symptoms” of a high foreclosure rate zone:
“Neighborhoods with affordable home prices, a historical popularity with minority home buyers, and a lot of new construction have been more prone than others to spikes in foreclosures… Another big predictor of foreclosure hot spots is how far home prices have tumbled in a neighborhood since the Bay Area housing market peaked in spring 2006. That’s because many recent homeowners put little or no money down and used riskier mortgages; as a result, they may now be “under water,” owing more on the properties than they are worth.”
Not surprisingly, the super pricey and expensive neighborhoods of Ross, Brisbane and Calistoga had no foreclosures in the last eight months.
Is your neighborhood a hot spot? Does it possess some of the qualities above? Below is a great graphic from today’s Chronicle with a listing and breakdown of the foreclosure hotspots, but only time will tell how the trend will continue…
