If you are looking for a state hit hard by the symptoms of foreclosure, look no further than Florida. A recent national foreclosure report, conducted by CoreLogic, has found that Florida is second only to California in the entire United States in completed foreclosures for fiscal year ending in May 2012.
The study found that over 92,000 homes were foreclosed on the 12 months leading up to May 2012, which is 32,000 more than third place Michigan. The top five states (or, more appropriately, bottom five) – California, Florida, Michigan, Texas, and Georgia – accounted for 48.8% of foreclosed homes nation wide.
Even worse, Florida is number one in the nation in percentage of homes foreclosed on, at 11.9%.
According to the Miami Herald’s article on CoreLogic’s report, “Florida’s foreclosure inventory level declined 0.6 percentage points in May from a year earlier, with 11.9 percent of the state’s mortgaged homes mired in some stage of foreclosure.”
Needless to say, this is a disaster for Florida’s housing market and economy. While the foreclosure numbers aren’t the only consequence of economic stagnation, they are certainly indicative of people struggling to make ends meet during tough times.
Foreclosed homes left to deteriorate in neighborhoods across Florida bring everyone’s home prices down. So in order to get Florida’s home prices on the rise again, we have to do something about foreclosed properties first. That is where Amendment 4 comes in.
Amendment 4 creates an additional homestead exemption for first time homebuyers, which will cause more qualified Floridians to purchase homes. Like most people, these buyers will be looking for bargains and are likely to purchase deeply discounted foreclosures first. As these homes are purchased and cared for, values for all homeowners in the area will increase. While first time homebuyers will greatly benefit from the additional homestead exemption in Amendment 4, it is current homeowners who should be really excited.
Has your neighborhood been affected by foreclosures? Is your mortgage underwater foreclosures are driving your home value down? Tell us your story below…