Foreclosures Rise Up In Bell

Foreclosures in Bell County have already risen up throughout 2007. But real estate experts estimate that they might be still on the rise. The previous year saw 1,381 homes being auctioned off in the Bell County Courthouse Annex’s front steps. But in 2006 this number was 1,334.

Comparing Bell County with Central Texas in the north and south gives us a mixed bag of surprises. Bell County had foreclosures on up to 4% rise from 2006. They rose up 11% since 2005. When compared to Austin this has not proved to be a very good thing. Austin metropolitan’s decline had taken place from 8 to 13% during the same time range. But Bell has adjusted better than McLennan County from 2006 to 2007 by 12%.

39% of Bell foreclosures were VA loans which formed the largest single category. VA loans are insured or are guaranteed by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs which is focused to make veterans for housing.

Dr. Mark Dotzour, the chief economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A & M University, has reported that the recent up rise in foreclosures may be attributed to inflation.

Some of it may just be coming from the market economy rising rapidly. With a $3 a gallon of gas, $4 a gallon of milk, property taxes and electricity rates going up the extreme rates of foreclosures do not come as a shock to the economist. Moderate home prices and low interest rates still keep Texas as a good real estate catch. Though economists like Dotzour continue to estimate the rise in foreclosures in 2008 the extreme rise is supposedly going to be in the East and the West Coast.

However Dotzour stress that real estate continues being a localized product and what happens in San Diego ultimately does not effect upon Temple. George Roddy, the Sr. president of Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. state that a company that tracks North and Central Texas foreclosures, has estimated that about 16% of Bell County homeowners have faced an upside down situation regarding their foreclosures.

This of course means that the loan amount has been so high that the assessed value of the property (as based on the appraisal district statements) has been crossed. It has thus developed in a no-win situation for the homeowners and the lenders as well.

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