Published Sunday, October 11, 2009

Record 265 foreclosures for October

The Newnan Times-Herald

It's another record month for foreclosures in Coweta County, with the number of foreclosure-related legal ads in October tying the record number of 265 set in September.

Foreclosure-related advertisements are up 86.6 percent over the 142 ads placed in October 2008, and 103.8 percent from the 130 ads placed in October 2007.

The 265 ads ties the highest number yet on record, set last month.

The Grantville and Palmetto areas are still the hardest hit, according to figures from First American CoreLogic, a collector of national, state and local data on home prices, foreclosure and delinquency activity, real estate sales volume and mortgage loan activity.

The foreclosure rates in the Palmetto and Grantville areas are listed as "high" (over 2.8 percent), with the rest of southern Coweta County (Moreland and Haralson) placed in the "moderately high" category (2 to 2.8 percent), while Newnan and western Coweta are listed as having a "moderate" number of foreclosures (1.3 to 2 percent), and the Sharpsburg/Senoia area is listed as having only a "moderately low" foreclosure rate (0.8 to 1.3 percent).

Foreclosure rates in Atlanta metro area have also increased for the month of August over the same period last year, according to First American CoreLogic.

According to the most recent data, the rate of foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans in metro Atlanta is 2.58 percent for August, an increase of 1.39 percentage points compared to August 2008 when the rate was 1.19 percent.

Foreclosure activity in the metro Atlanta area is lower than the national foreclosure rate, which was 2.86 percent for August 2009, representing a .28 percentage point difference.

Foreclosures continue to be a problem nationally, which may lead to another federal bailout, some watchers of the housing industry warned on Friday, according to the Associated Press.

A year after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teetered, industry executives and Washington policy makers are worrying that another government mortgage giant could be the next housing domino.

Problems at the Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees mortgages with low down payments, are becoming so acute that some experts warn the agency might need a federal bailout.

Running questions about the F.H.A.'s future -- underscored by interviews with policy makers, analysts and home buyers -- came to the fore on Thursday on Capitol Hill. In testimony before a House subcommittee, the F.H.A. commissioner, David H. Stevens, assured lawmakers that his agency would not need a bailout and that it was managing its risks.

But he acknowledged that some 20 percent of F.H.A. loans insured last year -- and as many as 24 percent of those from 2007 -- faced serious problems including foreclosure, offering a preview of a forthcoming audit of the agency's finances.

"Let me simply state at the outset that based on current projections, absent any catastrophic home price decline, F.H.A. will not need to ask Congress and the American taxpayer for extraordinary assistance -- we will not need a bailout," Stevens said in his testimony.

But to its critics, the F.H.A. looks like another Fannie Mae. The hearings on Thursday came on the same day that the federal agency charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provided a somber assessment of those giants' health. In the year since the government stepped in to rescue them, the companies have taken $96 billion from the Treasury, and may need more.

Locally, hard-hit developments in Coweta County's recent foreclosure listings include the Walden Pond Estates and Ivy Ridge subdivisions.

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Month-by-month foreclosure listings in Coweta:

Nov. 2008 — 166 (up from 116 in 2007, or 43 percent).

Dec. 2008 — 126 (up from 118 in 2007, or 6.7 percent).

Jan. 2009 — 176 (up from 156 in 2008, or 12.8 percent).

Feb. 2009 — 153 (up from 123 in 2008, or 24.3 percent).

March 2009 — 216 (up from 128 in 2008, or 68.75 percent).

April 2009 — 182 (up from 145 in 2008, or 25 percent).

May 2009 — 176 (up from 128 in 2008, or 37.5 percent).

June 2009 — 253 (up from 125 in 2008, or 102.4 percent).

July 2009 — 169 (up from 136 in 2008, or 24 percent).

Aug. 2009 — 196 (up from 137 in 2008, or 43 percent).

Sept. 2009 — 265 (up from 177 in 2008, or 49.7 percent).

Oct. 2009 — 265 (up from 142 in 2008, or 86.6 percent).