Among warnings of bank closures and construction and building loans in default, there comes the news of more homes in foreclosure. If I had to point fingers, I would say it’s the investors who drove prices up, mortgage brokers who only looked to their commissions, and the man or woman person who couldn’t afford a home, but still think it was a good time to buy. In Phoenix, there is one area small town in our metro area here named Queen Creek that has literally 1000s of homes for sale and hundreds of them empty. What were people thinking during that insane year (2005) - seeing the prices skyrocket and actually thinking things could keep going up? It’s all part of the same pattern with investors - they moved from tech stocks in the 90’s to the real estate market to stocks to commodities, mainly oil. I wonder what’s going to happen when the oil bubble breaks. The smart ones are early to the trough and leave nothing but a mess after they clear out with their profits.

One million homes - that’s scary! On the other hand, people who still have money to invest will be picking up some fantastic bargains next year.

From CNN Money….

More than one million homes are now in foreclosure, the highest rate ever recorded, according to a trade group which warned Thursday that number will continue to climb.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s first quarter report showed that a record 2.5% of all loans being serviced by its members are now in foreclosure, which works out to about 1.1 million homes. That’s up from the 2% of loans, or about 938,000 homes, that were in foreclosure at the end of 2007.

The report also showed that 448,000 homes, or about 1% of loans being serviced, began the foreclosure process during the first quarter. That’s up from about 382,000 homes, or 0.83%, that entered foreclosure in the last three months of 2007.

The seasonally-adjusted rate of homeowners behind on their mortgage payments also hit a record high. Nearly 3 million home loans, or 6.4%, have missed at least one payment, while about 737,000 are at least three months past due, but not yet in foreclosure.

What’s happening in your area - are you seeing a glut of foreclosures on the market? Do you know of someone in foreclosure?

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