343,000 Homes Repossessed So Far This Year

[flip_it_fast]

An astounding number of homes have been taken in foreclosures so far this year, a grand total of 343,159. That is up 136% from the same time period a year ago. In June alone, 71,563 have been repossessed. One year ago, just 26,369 were taken in the month of June.

Chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, James Saccacio said a quarter-million properties across the nation received foreclosure filings in the month of May and in the month of June.

The report revealed that foreclosure filings of all types, including notices of default, notices of auction sales and bank repossessions, rose 53% from June 2007, to 252,363. For the first six months, total filings rose 56% to 1.4 million.

"The year-over-year increase of more than 50% indicates we have not yet reached the top of this foreclosure cycle," said Saccacio.

By Les Christie

These numbers are out of this world. Where are all of these displaced families going? It is really really sad. I hope they have other family members who can give a lending hand to these people in their time of need.

343,000 Homes Repossessed So Far This Year

[homealone]

This is a down right tragedy.There are just way to many people losing their homes. You know that not all of these people have someone they can turn to.This is in part the reason why the rate of homeless is on the rise.Hopefully something very soon will be done about all of this!

[missmanors]

What I don't understand, is why the lenders didn't understand the consequences of giving so many mortgage loans to people who just didn't have the incomes or the credit to back these loans up. Those lenders had to know that sooner or later these people were not going to be able to pay back those loans.

I realize that this wasn't the only problem, of course. Many people have been laid off work, and this is also a major factor in this crisis.

I do feel so bad for all of these people, and hope that somehow they can get back on their feet.

[JaredfromIndiana]

On the other side of it... many of these buyers didn't educate themselves on mortgages or the consequences of buying more than they could afford. I think everybody has a hand in this, not just the "evil" mortgage brokers...

[flippinout]

No it isnt all the lenders fault. A lot of people say they have assets that they dont have, or just dont simply understand what they are signing.

Some of it could be due to "trying to keep up with the Joneses" too. In other words borrowing more than they need for a bigger, fancier house than they actually need.

The sub prime mortgages though, seem to have contributed a lot to this whole mess. And some borrowers have ended up with balloon payments due that they just couldnt meet.

[flip_it_fast]

I agree that many people are living way beyond their means and it is catching up to them. They have to have the best of everything, from homes to cars to clothing and so on. They really need to take a hard look at what is really important in life and learn to live accordingly.

I agree to that it isn't just the lenders fault that all of this is going on. It takes two to tango right? There are many who are guilty of causing the crisis. It isn't only the borrowers, lenders and misguided or misunderstandings of contracts either. Some people could afford these loans a year ago but now that they are paying over $4.00 for gas and $4 for a gallon of milk and high prices for many other things, something had to give.

[AtTheBeach]

The dream of owning a home can make borrowers do some silly things I don't agree that it's not the fault of any one group...but you'd think that the mortgage industry as a whole would have realized what was going on a little earlier.