The front page of the Daily Star on 4/5&6/08 carried an article titled "Homesick - Foreclosures on the rise in Otsego and Delaware" written by Denise Richardson. Yes, we all know this don't we and pretty much knew this would be happening? But let's discuss it for a moment.
First, among other things, the Daily Star stated that the number of foreclosures being filed in both counties is increasing. According to the article, 31 cases (I take that to mean Lis Pendens filed)have been filed in the first three quarters of this year vs. 103 for all of 2007, in Otsego County. Delaware County, as stated in the article did not give a specific number of filings, yet said the number was "very high". Because I do abstracting and title insurance work for my employer, Harry W. Hawley, Inc., agent for Chicago Title, I am at the Delaware County Clerk's Office almost every business day of the week. According to my count, there are about 40 Lis Pendens filed by mortgagees (lenders) vs. mortgagors (borrowers) so far this year, as of 4/1/08. In 2007, there were approximately 128 total with about 30 mortgage related Lis Pendens in the first quarter of that year. So, while the number is "on the rise", to date, the number of forclosures in the first quarter of last year (30+/-) compared to (40+/-) in the first quarter this year, is not a drastic difference. The Daily Star article went further to state that there 96 foreclosures in Otsego County in 2006. There is no denying that there is an trend upward; however, it is not as dramatic as it seems to imply from the Daily Star article.
On balance, the Daily Star article of 4/5/08 is a good one. It talks about the mortgage industry in general, the causes of our current dilemma, gives some information provided by Douglas Gulotty, President and CEO of Wilber Bank. Fortunately, Wilber has so far weathered the storm very well - the article states that based upon the 1100-1200 residential mortgages Wlber has, only one is currently in foreclosure. The article says that Wilber doesn't have any subprime mortgages and, by reputation, I know them to be a very conservative lender. However, Gulotty did say that there are delinquencies regarding car loan payments because a number of individuals and families are currently financially stressed.
The article also quotes Patrick O'Rourke, a housing counselor with Quaranta Housing Services Center, part of Opportunities for Chenango in Norwich and provides some good guidance and advice for borrowers if they are having difficulties paying their mortgage and even provides a foreclosure timeline advising borrowers of the time table regarding actions a lender will take if a mortgagee (borrower) is delinquent. Believe it or not, our area is doing much better than many other areas in the country.
One last point - we are probably in a recession at this very time. This will be confirmed by economic data yet to come in over the next number of weeks. However, based upon the actions that have been taken by the Federal Reserve, Treasury, the White House, and Congress over the last few months, this bodes very well for a recovery toward the end of the year. If you haven't already read the articles by NAR's Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, posted on this blog from NAR's website, please do so. He has been recognized by USA Today as being the 5th best Economist, based upon his accuracy. His commentaries will provide you with much perspective and reason for hope.
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