Thursday, September 23, 2010

American Nightmare: Top 10 Cities for Foreclosures

Top 10 Cities for Foreclosures - ABC News

No One Is Sure Whether The Worst Is Over, But These Cities Are Under Siege

If you drive 32 miles east of Reno, you ll find Fernley, Nevada. The city that limits its dog count to three per address and speaks out about the affects of graffiti on its Website has troublesome news to digest. It has the nation s highest foreclosure rate through August.

It's been an awful time for the real estate market, which was only made worse by recent news. August was the toughest month for homeowners as lenders swooped in and seized more than 95,000 homes across the United States, according to Realty Trac.

ABCNEWS/YAHOO POLL: POLITICS AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

Is the worst over yet? The foreclosure rate is up 25 percent since August 2009, and the dream of homeownership has turned sour for many who owe more on their homes than they are worth or can't pay their mortgage

"I don't think we've seen the worst of it yet," says Lisa Johnson-Sevajian, vice president at Coldwell Banker Andover, about what she calls the "American drama." But, "there is a lot of opportunity for first-time homebuyers to get in and create an investment for themselves," she added.

Efforts by the government to stem the tide of foreclosures have had mixed success. The Obama administration's main anti-foreclosure program touched a 10-month low in August with 33,000 homeowners receiving assistance. The president said in 2009 that as many as 4 million homeowners would be helped, and about 449,000 have thus far received assistance to avoid foreclosure.


» Full Story on abcnews.go.com

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