Foreclosure in Indiana is the Fifth Highest

January 5th, 2009

It has been recently found that the rate of foreclosures in the United States is one of the highest in the real estate area of Indiana. The end of third quarter in September shows that the rate of foreclosure in this state is the fifth highest. The percentage of loans in foreclosure in Indiana stands at 3.59 percent. The four toppers happen to be Nevada with 5.58 percent, Ohio with 3.93, California with 3.90, and Arizona with 3.86. However, the reasons behind the foreclosure loan in Indiana are different from that of the other four states. According to economist Sam Khater, there have been issues with foreclosure in Indiana for quite sometime. He said, "But the United States is quickly catching up,"

Khater has further said that the decline in the value of homes along with a heavy loss of employment have badly affected Indiana. In Khater’s own words, "Indiana lost 1.1 percent of its employment base in the last year. That’s not a good combination." The reason behind the number of foreclosures in the northwestern part of Indiana can be attributed to the auto industry. According to real estate professional Peter Novak Jr., "Traditionally we’ve been a manufacturing state. We’ve always had that tie to the steel and auto markets. Our local mills are laying off and auto is a component of that." The depreciation in the price of home and loss of employment has had a big impact on the foreclosure rate of northwest Indiana.

However, the real estate market have not hit rock bottom price. The national delinquency rate, according to real estate expert Alan Thorup, has risen. He said that nearly 9.31 percent of foreclosure loans in the state of Hoosier were due by minimum 30 days. He further said, "If you look at the second quarter report, 7.97 percent were past due 30 days. That ranked us number four. It’s certainly challenging out there with these numbers but we’ll have to live with it awhile,"

The rate of foreclosure in Lake County was 2.9 percent in the month of October. This, a year ago, was 2.7 percent. The rate of foreclosure in Porter County was 1.4 percent as compared to 1.3 percent a year back. Indiana had a foreclosure rate of 2 percent in October as compared to 1 percent in the previous year during the same month. Thorup said, "As of Sept. 30, Indiana had a 1-year housing price index decline of .02 percent," This when compared to the national figure indicates a 4 percent decline. This means that the state of Indiana is not in as bad a condition as is Nevada and Arizona.