Florida Foreclosures Rise in February
Although foreclosure activity actually fell by about 4% nationwide during February, Florida continues to experience one of the most dramatic bank foreclosures surges in the country, with rates rising nearly 8% in the second month of 2008.
However, Florida’s foreclosure rate of one in every 250 homes still trailed that of Nevada and California as the states with the worst rates in the country.
Florida’s market has long been in decline due to overdevelopment during the real estate boom and subsequent foreclosures when property values began to fall. Property value in the state, especially the southern regions, were extremely inflated for some time, and when investors could no longer get back the money they paid for their properties in a sale, foreclosures came on to the books in vast numbers, as it almost became easier for many to allow foreclosure to occur than to try to keep up with the sky high monthly payments on adjustable rate mortgages.
During the month of February, the Cape Coral/Fort Myers area came in as the metropolitan area with the number one highest foreclosure rate nationwide. Fort Lauderdale, the seat of foreclosure ravaged Broward County, came in at number10 on the list.
The time is ripe for foreclosure investment in Florida when it comes to prices, but judging when the market will rebound and property values will once again begin to climb is going to be difficult.