Monday, August 4, 2008

Queens at epicenter of foreclosure crisis

New Yorkers can't beat the housing heat this summer - foreclosures in the city were up 67 percent in July compared to the same month last year as me loans and a cooling economy scalded homeowners.

The outer boroughs in particular felt the burn, with the number of auctioned-off homes in Queens surging 81 percent last month compared with July 2007. Staten Island registered a shocking 215 percent increase in the same period.


HOUSE OF PAIN AS CITY FORECLOSURES SOAR 67%

Manhattan didn't emerge unscathed. While only 7.6 percent more homes hit the block last month than in July 2007, there was an alarming 55 percent increase in foreclosure sales from June to July of this year.

Citywide, 2,216 residents have lost their homes to foreclosure already this year. The figure was 338 last month alone - compared to 203 in July 2007.

Queens shouldered more than half of the city's total last month, with 178 homes being foreclosed.

The borough appears to be at the epicenter of the national housing crisis, facing a triple threat of rising foreclosure rates, a 40 percent decrease in the number of homes sold in the first half of 2008, and median sale prices plummeting to $413,000 from $452,000.

Brooklyn recorded 63 foreclosure auctions, followed by Staten Island with 54 - an 86 percent leap from 29 foreclosures in June.

The Bronx had 29 home seizures in July, with Manhattan seeing 14.

"The numbers are pretty dramatic for New York City," said Propertyshark.com CEO Bill Saniford. "In Queens, it's quite scary."

Although foreclosures remain limited mainly to low-income areas, they're having a domino effect that has driving down prices citywide, said Saniford.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder just how many of these foreclosures are located in "people of color" type neighborhoods?

And I wonder just who is going to be picking up these foreclosed properties on the cheap and for what purpose?

H-m-m-m, sounds like urban "renewal"
and Black (Latino etc.) removal!

Unknown said...

I think the foreclosure issue is color blind except for the color green. It would be interesting to see some statistics on this though.

Anonymous said...

One man's foreclosure is another man's bargain.

There is no "price" for a home (or for anything, for that matter). The sale price is what someone is willing to pay. It has nothing to do with what the owner wants someone to pay. Prospective buyers dictate price. Just as is done on the stock market.

So, prices are not going down. Prospective buyers are simply no longer willing to pay extravagant prices. So, they wait.

There's nothing sinister here. It's the market.

Do you want the government to determine prices? Which politician do you nominate to tell you the price of things?

Why would a politician know more than you do about the worth of things?

Unknown said...

I'll say it again. Most of these foreclosures are people who never should have bought houses in the first place. They bought houses with no money down with a veritable rate hoping that they would be able to pay them off and got burned. All of us told my friend and her husband not to buy but they did and now they are in trouble. We all need to learn how to live within our means.

Anonymous said...

Many are those who couldn't afford those houses in the first place.

That's true.

But the demographic FACTS remain.

These foreclosures are primarily located in poorer and people of color neighborhoods.

And did sub prime lenders like "Countrywide" etc. have
a long term sub-rosa agenda?

I guess we'll really never know for certain, but it sure quacks like a duck so what are we looking at?

Learn to read between the lines.

"They" have been wanting to clean out East Elmhurst/Corona, South Jamaica, etc. for decades.

Now "they" have been furnished with the tools to accomplish this.

Is it just a coincidence? Maybe.

But buyers will be picking up these properties BELOW current market value, no doubt!

Ever attend an auction....h-m-m-m?