Carolinas Foreclosure Rate Continues Upward Climb Foreclosure rates in both Carolinas continued to climb in 2005 despite solid economic conditions and historically low interest rates, which also have begun to move higher.
Christian Werner, CEO of New World Mortgage, says there is a lack of restraint among lenders and a lack of discipline among mortgagees that is causing the problem.
“We’ve been seeing double-digit, month-to-month increases in foreclosures in North and South Carolina virtually all year. In November, homes in some stage of foreclosure increased in North Carolina by 23 percent and in South Carolina by 75 percent from the previous month,” says Werner. “I think there is some greed on the part of lenders and some recklessness on the part of home buyers affecting the foreclosure rate. And it is not just at the low end of the market that we are seeing foreclosures.”
Werner says he often loses business because he won’t qualify potential home buyers for more home than they can realistically afford.
Unfortunately, he says, there are plenty of lenders who will qualify them for the maximum loan amount possible.
“If we don’t begin to see some restraint from the industry, and some discipline on the part of mortgage holders, a legislative solution to this increasing problem may be the answer,” he says. |
