Despite trailing states like Nevada, California and Florida, the Business Journal for New York reports that year over year, foreclosures rose 70% in the state. This is much higher than the national average.
Home foreclosure filings in New York rose nearly 70 percent in November compared to the same month a year ago, a much steeper increase than what happened nationally.
The number of foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose 18 percent in November on a year-over-year basis, according to RealtyTrac, an online real estate company based in California.
Even with the big jump in New York, the state continues to rank toward the bottom in terms of per-capita foreclosures in the United States.
New York was 39th on the list.
And, compared with the previous month, foreclosures are down 8 percent in New York. Nationally, foreclosure filings also fell 8 percent from October, the fourth-straight decline in foreclosure activity, according to RealtyTrac.
“We’re still not one of the highest-impacted states, but definitely it’s a reason for concern that we’re seeing increasing rates,” said Glorimar Perez, a spokeswoman for the state Banking Department.
The number of foreclosures will likely continue increasing in New York as unemployment rises, she said. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 9 percent in October, compared to 5.9 percent a year ago.
While the big wave of foreclosures that started hitting the country two years ago were largely due to sub prime and other exotic home mortgages going belly up, more recent foreclosures are due to job losses and other economic woes.
The shift was one of the reasons state legislation was approved last month that protects more people against foreclosure. The new mandates include requiring lenders and mortgage service providers to give at least three months’ notice to any borrower—not just those in sub prime loans—before any legal action can be taken against them.
The nationwide decline in foreclosures from October to November was due to loan modifications and other foreclosure prevention efforts, according to RealtyTrac. The federal tax credit for first-time buyers is also helping the residential real estate market.
“A full recovery will only come when unemployment recedes to normal, healthy levels and when availability of credit reaches a more rational balance between the extremes of the past few years,” RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said.
Nevada, Florida, California continue to have the biggest problems with foreclosures, although Las Vegas no longer has the highest per-capita rate among cities. That distinction belongs to Merced, Calif.