Mortgage news that matters

CNN.Money has an article on state rankings in foreclosures. It is by Les Christie, a CNN.Money staff writer. Florida Foreclosures Lead Nation

Nationally foreclosures are declining. This could be as people are getting out from under their Christmas debt they find a little more cash. Also housing sales are picking up in many areas as spring brings buyers back out.

Oregon is ranked 27th with 725 filings. This averaged 1 in 2008 household going into foreclosure. This is up .55% from January of 07 and actually down 1.63% from February of 06.
Les attributes foreclosures in part to investment speculation and over production of housing and feels that the subprime ARM's adjusting could make these numbers rise. I would agree, but am concerned that subprime and speculation are being lumped together.

While I've sold my share of sub prime loans to clients who couldn't otherwise qualify for a loan, not one was for an investment property. These just never made sense. Every one of the investment properties that I have financed were with an Alt A loan. These are better priced and more lenient in underwriting. These are also the loans that are most likely being defaulted on with the investment properties.

Overall, Oregon seems to be in pretty good shape. We haven't been a huge sub prime market and while we've seen our share of investment speculation, I don't believe that it has been as bad as many other states. Investors at this point are having to settle for less profit if they need to get out from under a mortgage debt.

This is one chart that I don't mind being in the middle of the pack