Las Vegas, Fort Myers, Florida Lead U.S. Cities in Foreclosures

[FarCenter]

By Brian Louis

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Las Vegas and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida led U.S. metropolitan areas in foreclosures in the first half of the year as unemployment and falling home prices forced home-loan defaults, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

The Las Vegas area had the highest rate of foreclosure filings, with 7.5 percent of households receiving a default or auction notice or being seized by a lender. That rate was six times the national average. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers region, on Florida’s Gulf Coast, was second, with a rate of 7.2 percent.

....

Six of the nation’s top 10 metro areas for foreclosure rates were in California, according to RealtyTrac. Merced was the highest in California and third in the nation with a 6.9 percent rate of foreclosure filings. California’s unemployment rate was 11.6 percent in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The California metro areas of Riverside-San Bernardino- Ontario, Stockton, Modesto, Bakersfield, and Vallego-Fairfield were fourth through eighth on the list that included 203 U.S. metro areas.

The Phoenix region was ninth and Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, was 10th, according to RealtyTrac. Florida’s unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

<snip> http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20603037&sid=aZejjD7U1FNw

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Note that these are mostly in "non-recourse" mortgage states, where the lender cannot sue the borrower for the difference between the proceeds from foreclosure and the balance on the mortgage. Which means that the borrowers can walk away from properties that are under water, without going into bankruptcy or having their other assets attacked by the lender.

[Captain Hilts]

1. My brother is having a really hard time in the Ft. Myers area. There isn't anywhere to work.

Yet, he's tied to the area by his house, which narrowly avoided foreclosure.

[flyarm]

2. Neither are low housing price areas!..or poor areas..

so the idea being floated, that it is only the poor or low income people losing homes is nonsense. All over Florida there are empty stores, and businesses going out of business..even Big Mega malls are closing early.

I was just in Los Angeles..even on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills stores are closed up...and if they are not closed their inventory is meek..so much for the bullshit that the recession is ending..just more bullshit and propaganda! They want people spending what little they have left..

[FarCenter]

3. I think that the retiree moves to Florida have slowed

The baby boomers are locked into their situations in the midWest or Northeast. Plus they don't have either the fat pension or the retirement savings needed to move to Florida. Plus, the hurricanes have scared a lot of them off.

As for Las Vegas, it no longer has a monopoly on gambling. It also enjoyed a speculative boom in housing.

[flyarm]

5. more like the cost of Hurricane insurance has scared them off!!

I live in Fla and have a summer on the shore of NJ..no problems here in Jersey..wouldn't even know there was a depression in Fla and Calif by the looks of it here!! Prices of houses has hardly dropped on the Jersey shore!!

[FarCenter]

7. Prices have come down some

Ocean County might be down only a little, since it is still and attractive retirement community option for the NYC metro area.

Eastern Monmouth is probably down less than the McMansion plantation in Western Monmouth.

But it seems that there are more ads for houses in the $300 K range than a year ago.

[earth mom]

4. The film industry in California is having a rough time-production is way down.

Hollywood prop auction ends owner's 40 year career

LOS ANGELES – When Harvey Schwartz left his job as an aerospace engineer and opened an antique shop, he ignited a passion that led to a 40-year career.
Harvey's Antiques spawned Harvey's Props, which eventually became 20th Century Props, described by Schwartz as "the biggest prop house in the world under one roof."

But no more. Schwartz's inventory of more than 93,000 pieces — including foam aliens, vintage furniture and appliances, carousel horses, Roman sculptures and other assorted props from film and TV — is being liquidated. A slowdown in the economy and Hollywood productions is forcing him to close his doors. He expects his 200,000-square-foot warehouse in North Hollywood to be "broom clean" by Aug. 15.
"It's the end of an era," he said. "I have to just walk away and say goodbye."

The Great American Group is selling the pieces at auction through Saturday.
Schwartz is letting go of thousands of chairs, dozens of desks, scores of old typewriters, an Egyptian sarcophagus, a giant genie lamp and a life-size mummy. He's also saying goodbye to a 6-foot-tall purple sea horse, a set of metal morgue cases and a half-dozen torch-bearing gargoyles.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090730/ap_en_tv/us_hollywood_prop_auction

http://www.greatamerican.com/GAGAuction/Auctions/AuctionDetails.aspx?Id=393

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. No action was taken as other states & Canada provided tax incentives , CA is now

responding with tax incentives, Hopefully it's not too late

[FarCenter]

8. Well -- there is also probably less need for props, since they can be added digitally

Digital special effects should eventually improve to the point where production costs for movies go way down. All you really will need is the actors and the rest can be filled in by computers. Ultimately, the actors can also be synthesized, as they already are in computer games.

[flvegan]

9. One note of correction in re Florida...

In Florida, during the foreclosure the lender can seek a "Deficiency Judgment" as an additional Count to the Complaint if the action will exceed the amount of the mortgage. Upon the issuance of the Certificate of Title in the name of the lender (doesn't occur if a third party is the successful bidder), the lender can have that Final Summary Judgment containing the deficiency certified (rerecorded). Pursuant to Florida Statute 55.10, that judgment now attaches to any other property in that county and stands as a debt against the borrower.