Foreclosure Victims Are Looking For Help In Pierce County, Washington
Pierce County, Washington, located on the southern edge of Puget sound is the second most populous county in the state with approximately 750,000 people existing here. Pierce County is one of the most livable communities in the nation, but even it has been hit hard by the foreclosure meltdown.
Andre D. Coleman, a 40-year resident and Pierce County stop foreclosure specialist, provides valuable insight to the ongoing foreclosure situation.
Mr. Colemen states that foreclosures are up in Pierce County, weighing in with the second highest foreclosure rate in the state. One bright note is that the rate is still much lower than the national average. One statistic claims that there is 1 foreclosure for every 583 homes. That is double the rate of 2007. In comparison, Nevada has a rate of 1 house in 146. Vermont has no foreclosures reported! He considers Pierce County's rate as moderate.
The root of the foreclosure meltdown here remains that numerous adjustable rate mortgages (ARM's) are adjusting thereby causing payments to increase dramatically. Also, property values in the county are flat, and have been so for quite some time.
The typical residence in foreclosure here is considered the working middle class. They make up the majority of the population and are the segment of society most preyed upon.
The foreclosure numbers have been climbing since the summer of 2007. This is due to the tightening of credit criteria. Homeowners are having a hard time selling homes or refinancing their homes. The numbers indicate a continuing upward trend at least through 2009. Most local real estates feel the worst is yet to come.
Over the past twelve months, according to statistics just released by NWMLS, the median price of single-family homes in Pierce County move back up to February 2008 numbers, although still down four percent this time last year. The median price rose to $270,000 from last month’s figure of $267,000. The average cumulative days on ninety-five percent; only a slight move in favor of sellers, but still indicating a buyer’s market.
Listing inventory grew significantly last month, reaching 7,507 homes for sale by the end of April - a thousand more listings than in April 2007. Sales increased for the third straight month to reach 761 for the month. More competition and modest sales means that sellers still need to be the best home on the market in terms of price and condition to attract a buyer.
As with everywhere else in the country homeowners are overleveraged around here as well. Locals blame the recent use of goofy adjustable rate mortgages (ARM,s) with teaser rates. Throw in a lack of education, bad advice, and a little greed and you have the makings of a disaster.
Homeowners are following the same trends as the rest of the country in choosing a way to stp foreclosure. Most owners try to refinance first. If that fails they then try to sell. If they cannot quickly sell, they usual turn to bankruptcy or they just walk away. Loss mitigations is usually the last option on their list due to embarrassment or plain ignorance.
A general snapshot of the real estate environment reveals flat, falling, small increase, overbuilt with new construction, etcetera. Pierce County is luckier than some of the other counties. It has a strong military employer as well as several educational institutions. The market seems to holding at a level of four to ten percent of last years values. The problems for some of these owners are their liberal qualifying loans and the length of time it takes to sale distress property.
Victim or Victor - the Choice is YoursYou could lose everything or you could come out of this with more than you ever thought possible. It all rides on your decision to contact us. The sooner you do that, the better the outcome. Get started and stop foreclosure now by answering a few questions for us . To Talk to Someone Now Call: 1-888-I-SAVE-80 There's no obligation. In fact the initial consultation is FREE. And that may be all you'll need to stop the foreclosure for good. Learn what you can do to avoid or stop foreclosure. |