53% rise for U.S. Foreclosures: Property & Mortgages to blame

June is not a great month for U.S. foreclosures, as they rose by 53 percent from the same time a year ago. Things are certainly in a bad way as bank repossessions have almost tripled while property values mixed with higher payments on adjustable mortgages forced many people to give up their homes.

The startling facts are that more than 250,000 properties or one in every 501 households are now in some stage of foreclosure, this is according to a statement issued by RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, California-based seller of default data.

In that report, RealtyTrac Inc. state that the highest rates for foreclosures are in Arizona, California and Nevada. Moody’s Economy’s chief economist, Mark Zandi, has said “The foreclosure problem is getting worse and will stay with us well into the next decade.”

Since the spring in 2006, about $3.5 trillion in homeowner equity has been wiped of housing prices from when they were at their peak.

Around 53 percent of borrowers, who have subprime loans for those who have poor or incomplete credit histories, will almost certainly be in negative equity by the end of the year, this number will rise to around 63 percent by 2009.

Read the full article from Bloomberg