Florida foreclosure rates signal cautious optimism

On Behalf of | Jul 22, 2015 | Foreclosure |

While the housing market crash affected individual Florida homeowners on different levels, the recession had a huge impact on the state collectively. Countless homeowners were confronted with serious financial challenges, and thousands were forced into foreclosure. In 2015, many Florida residents are still dealing with unstable mortgage conditions; however, there is evidence to suggest that foreclosure rates are finally on the decline.

It is currently estimated that around 95,000 homes across the state of Florida are in foreclosure. That figure translates to one in every seven foreclosed homes across the country. Still, some real estate experts are pointing to signs of improvement and hope for the state’s housing market. Within the past year alone, new foreclosure filings have decreased by 22 percent in the state. South Florida is seeing even greater improvement, with new incidents of foreclosure down by 30 percent.

Foreclosure rates across the southern region of Florida are receiving a great deal of attention because they are showing some of the greatest signs of recovery and concern across the country. Despite the fact that South Florida is currently showing the highest percentage of improvement in terms of new foreclosure incidents, it continues to have the sixth highest rate of foreclosures anywhere in the country.

Figures reported from the first half of this year showed that one in every 87 houses in counties like Miami-Dade and Palm Beach were in foreclosure. Lower-income neighborhoods that were hit especially hard by the recession continued to have some of the highest foreclosure rates. However, some are attributing current statistics in the state to the fact that foreclosure cases are processed more slowly through the Florida court system than in other states.

Source: Miami Herald, “South Florida has sixth highest rate of foreclosure in U.S.,” Nicholas Nehamas, July 15, 2015

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