Honolulu Graded Lowest in Foreclosures

August 7th, 2008

The city of Honolulu has been graded the lowest among the 100 top metropolitan areas of US for real estate home foreclosures in the second quarter as per Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac. It is still the lowest even after the fact that there has been 63 percent increase in foreclosure filings from last year. A total of 250 foreclosure homes have been filed this year from April to June, which is higher in comparison to the second quarter of 2007. In the first quarter, the city and county of Honolulu reported about 155 filings, which mean a 52 percent increase from 2007.

The number of real estate foreclosures doubled nationally from what it was in the second quarter of the last year. It has been seen that about 739,714 homes (or one in every 171 US households) across the nation received at least one notice on foreclosures during the quarter. This means that there has been a 121 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007. Thus, the situation in Honolulu is much better. Even at one foreclosure filing per 1,331 homes, the situation in Honolulu was far better as it was much below the average one per 171 household foreclosure filings for the top 100 metropolitan areas in the second quarter.

The Stockton, Calif. has reported one filing per 25 homes and has topped the list. This was followed by Riverside/San Bernardino, Calif. that reported one filing per 32 homes. The Florida and California cities have reported about 16 of the worst rates of 20 metro foreclosures.

Given below is a report by RealtyTrac on the number of households per one foreclosure filing:

Las Vegas/Paradise, Calif.- 35 homes
Sacramento, Calif.- 49 homes
Fresno, Calif.- 62 homes
Bakersfield, Calif.- 41 homes
Oakland, Calif.- 60 homes
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.- 51 homes
Phoenix/Mesa, Ariz.- 51 homes

There are several reasons that have led to real estate foreclosures nationwide. Some of them are declining value of homes, a tight money lending standard, soft housing sale, and a slow movement of the economy of US. All this has been instrumental in leaving a few options to the homeowners to keep away foreclosures. There are many who are unable to find buyers. Even some are obliged to sell their homes at a price lower than what their home is actually worth, and also fail to refinance their mortgages into more affordable loans.