Foreclosure Problem Persists For Worcester, Other Urban Areas
It should come as no surprise that the cities that have struggled with the highest foreclosure numbers in the last two years were also facing the issue in 2009.
Worcester, Springfield, Boston’ s Dorchester neighborhood, Brockton and Lynn were the cities with the most foreclosures in 2009, according to new data put out by The Warren Group. Worcester had 505 foreclosures last year. With 503 foreclosures, Springfield wasn’t too far behind.
Foreclosures in those five cities, however, actually fell in 2009 from 2008, as they did statewide.
But before celebrating, it’s important to keep in mind that those cities were also in the top five for petitions to foreclose, which represent foreclosures that were started in 2009. That means more homeowners in those cities were at risk of foreclosure than anywhere else in the state.
Petitions to foreclose actually climbed year-over-year in those cities anywhere from 9 percent (Lynn) to 23 percent (Worcester).
So is the situation getting better or worse? Some experts think that homeowners with the riskiest, nontraditional mortgage loans, have already gone through foreclosure so the pace of foreclosures will slow.
But there are analysts that fear that persisting unemployment will drive homeowners with more traditional mortgage loans into foreclosure.
The big push for loan modifications to help troubled homeowners doesn’t seem to be working. More than 900,000 homeowners nationwide have sought trial modifications but only 66,000 borrowers have secured permanent modifications.