Big Picture Shows Big Increase in Missouri Foreclosure Numbers

Posted on June 3rd, 2008 by saman

In the current difficult economic climate in America, things are bad. The economy, though few are yet willing to announce a recession, remains in a downturn. In fact, things are bad enough at times that just because a state seems to be doing better than others – in fact, even if it seems to be improving and on the climb – that need not mean it is doing well. In April, the number of foreclosures in Missouri was beneath the national trend. Missouri even rebounded from an even tougher March, posting decreases in the amount of homes that were taken from home owners due to foreclosure, and sold at auction. However, as stated in a report issued by this past Wednesday by RealtyTrac (a company that publishes a national database of foreclosures out of Irvine, California) this past Wednesday, that diminishing number of foreclosures was still up more than 34 percent when compared to the amount in April 2007.

The Show-Me State showed a rate of foreclosure that was just the 20th highest in the country in April, but that still meant one out of every 860 households was the recipient of a filing. In gross, Missouri had 3,051 foreclosures last month, a 9.4 percent decrease from the preceding month which pales – in a number that should be restated to emphasize the straits of the current American economy – in comparison to the 34 percent increase over April of last year.

The foreclosure crisis continues in the United States, and there seems no end in sight. One aspect that may be forestalling the improvement of this condition is the fact that the situation for investing in foreclosed properties is actually a beneficial one right now. As mortgage companies feel no particular desire to outdo the amount pledged against a house with the sale price, investors are doing well to invest in, strange as it may seem, a home that has been foreclosed upon. This is typically viewed in a negative light, but for certain closure investors it is currently anything but, especially given the massive numbers. 243,353 foreclosures were filed in the month of April 2008, which was a 4 percent rise from March, and a jump of almost 65 percent over April 2007, according to RealtyTrac. One filing was made for each 519 households in the nation, a number that, again, causes Missouri’s 1 in 860 to seem – startlingly enough – good.

The 13th most elevated rate of foreclosure in America was in Illinois, a state which posted one for each 620 households, up one percent over the previous April. That paled when compared to Nevada, whose rate of one per 146 was the highest in the country.

California followed with a rate of one occurring per each 204 households in April, and Arizona ranked third. California, with its population of over 36 million, was far ahead in gross foreclosures with 64,683.