Business: Mortgage breakdown in Florida

One in five U.S. homes entering the foreclosure process last month were located in Florida. It's not the sort of ranking that makes you want to shout, "We're No. 1!"

But according to data assembled by Bargain.com, a Goleta, Calif., company that seeks to profit from homeowners' grief by selling lists of foreclosed homes that are for sale, it's the truth: Florida leads the nation in housing distress.

More Florida entered foreclosure in Florida than in any other state in May. And while 35 of 50 states saw a decline in new foreclosures last month, Florida's rose 22 percent. Bargain.com's figures include homes that either were sued for foreclosure, scheduled for auction, or sold back to the lender in May.

Is it something we said? Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Corp., cites two key reasons why the state stands out today:

- The relative ease and speed with which mortgage lenders can obtain a court-ordered foreclosure here.

The onetime Jacksonville resident says he was surprised to learn, after the fact, just how much speculation took place in Florida during the recent boom.

Many buyers told their lenders they planned to live in the homes they were buying.

Foreclosures took an especially big bite out of Florida in May. The state's ranks:

1st in the share of homes entering foreclosure that were either condos or townhomes (14 percent).

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by gillian	06/23/07 04:38 PM
is it a good time to buy off plan in florida, with insidetrack.

by john	06/17/07 08:40 PM
HAHAHA The Bush Ownership Society that all the middle class wanna be Trump millionares bought into & voted for! SUCKERBAIT - Now the Bushes and Bilderbergers will buy all this stuff for a dime on the $ & Middle class america will enter serfdom!

by pete	06/15/07 11:20 AM
how do the developers get away with all the lies, and misrepresentation why so much backingfrom the city of hollywood a story of broken promises. and they have the green, and buy their way

by pete boiudy	06/15/07 11:08 AM
property tax on my condos, is out of wack,my home in IL is cheaper sits on a 9/10 acre in a very preciosity area 60029 zip see at www33 park lane theis unit has 550 units. How much money can the city of hollywood spend?

by jsucker	06/14/07 11:41 AM
All you suckers quite your whinning! Pay your taxes, and shut up! And PLEASE dont move to Tennessee, we dont want you here!

by lala	06/14/07 10:45 AM
somebody please give Bush a blow job so we can impeach him!

by James	06/14/07 08:14 AM
Moved here in 2003, exchanged second home in CA for rentals. Storms, insurance, taxes, and con men, now we are looking at chapter 11. It's hard to provide housing. Renters will ultimately lose, they will bare the cost of high taxes. It's pure greed.

by spotshot	06/14/07 01:14 AM
Fl is positioning itself for the rich only. For too long the peons of this country have tried to enjoy the sunny side of life & now it's time for FL to clean up & send the rif-raft back north & make room for ONLY the wealthy baby boomers.

by James	06/14/07 12:37 AM
In my area taxes have gone up with no end in sight. Families, and people on fixed incomes cannot afford to move. The second home culture will end as will investment homes. Properties will be unmaintained. Taxes has left little. Insurance is also bad.

by Tim	06/13/07 10:37 PM
The peaceful life style living amongst the Amish near a small town of 600 can't be matched with only a 1 hour drive to either Erie or Pittsburgh. Taxes are set at the '72 value = $800/yr, insurance w/ 150k replacement $450/yr...check out Mercer, Pa.

by Tim	06/13/07 10:32 PM
We bought our home in Panther Trace for $189k o7-04, and sold it without a realitor for $205k 02-07 while the builder was asking $260k for the same model in the new phase. Bought a small farm in NW Pa for $90k cash 12-06 couldn't be happier!

by Daren	06/13/07 09:08 PM
We paid 459K for a 3 bed/2bath condo 3 yrs.ago. It was built in 1965! Fl. RE is still a bargain. My Brother just bought a larger 3/2 condo in Land O Lakes and it cost less than half this Ca condo.And his is brand new!!

by Kevin	06/13/07 09:03 PM
We just bought a condo here. I think that the next few months are going to be a bit scary for many new owners. We have already had a small drop in value since first opening escrow. We are in for the long haul though.

by Jamie	06/13/07 06:51 PM
People should look at those figures before they sign mortgage documents, but that doesn't account for the misleading mortgage brokers out there. No one held a gun to their head and made them sign for the mortgage.

by Jim	06/13/07 05:55 PM
Mike: It just isn't possible to save most of these borrowers who are losing their homes. Most can't even afford the interest only payment at a moderate interest rate. They could only afford the initial teaser rate. Sadly, that leaves few options.

by Ray	06/13/07 05:26 PM
Ah...Florida, where all white collar conartists flock to, in or to suck $ out of the ignorant. Plenty of both down here. Seems like it's the majority of the population. Tampa is corrupt thru and thru.

by John	06/13/07 05:04 PM
The problem is the outrageous property taxes & homeowner's insurance. Eliminate property taxes for 2.5% more in sales tax is the way to fix both.

by Tammy	06/13/07 04:49 PM
Everyone here is spoiled. Sure we have had HUGE jumps in value lately, but if our system were the same as elsewhere in the US, no sticker shock. In most other places, the assessed value is the market value. There is no cap, no homestead or exemption.

by oke	06/13/07 04:30 PM
with the exception of the poeple who bought in the last 2 years, you in florida have seen incedible gains on property. now look a michigan it never had a boom and they would kill for a market like south florida count your blessings

by mike,	06/13/07 04:27 PM
WHY CAN'T MORTGAGE CO'S WORK WITH PEOPLE IF THE PEOPLE CAN MAKE THIER PAYMENTS FOR A 1 TIME SHOT TAKE THE AMOUNT PAST DUE PUT IN ON THE BACK EXTEND THE NOTE.THIS WILL DRIVE THE MARKET UP BECAUSE THIER TAKING 1000'S OF FORECLOUSERS OFF THE MKT.

by Joe	06/13/07 03:48 PM
As a former mortgage broker and homeowner in the Tampa Bay area, I couldn't be happier to be out of the mortgage business and back up here in PA. From an insider's perspective, mortgage people in Florida are terrible. Period !

by Lefty	06/13/07 03:47 PM
Don't feel bad, in California prices are double what you pay in "Cheap" Florida. Thank you Alan Greenspan for making homes more "affordable."

by ms	06/13/07 03:42 PM
Steve, stay put. It sucks down here. If I could afford to I would go north, (TN) I bought a home this year and now I'm house broke. I can afford my home and utilities but that's it. With gas prices sky high, I go to work and back home.

by Paul	06/13/07 03:15 PM
No kidding. People it's not rocket science. People can't afford homes because they are unfordable. Just look at the medium income in the area. It can't support homes over 250k. Then add in all your bills, insurance, taxes. It doesn't work.

by WTF	06/13/07 03:13 PM
I blamed the Bush's, when Clinton was in office there was nothing NEGATIVE to report daily about the govermant offices

by Jason	06/13/07 02:20 PM
Uh oh! Foreclosures, hurricanes, child molesters, alligators, west nile virus, property taxes, tornados! Time to head back north yankees! FL is a scary place! When you get back to Ohio or NY or whatever, make sure and tell everyone else not to come!

by Don	06/13/07 12:55 PM
Something has to give. Maybe it is time for a new government thrown out by force if need be which it will be needed!

by Steve	06/13/07 12:54 PM
My family and I dream of living in the Tampa area. We love vacationing there. But everyting I read about on this site is starting to make me think twice?!?!?!

by Sal	06/13/07 12:41 PM
It is a sad state of affairs and only new laws can help. Urge your reps to do something or vote them out! There should be no rest and no peace in Tallahasse until something is done.

by Maya	06/13/07 12:32 PM
I blame the crisis on taxes and insurance.

by done	06/13/07 12:20 PM
I am in the process of losing my home. I'm not sure which month I will become a statistic but if I ever recover from my current financial disaster area (I borrowed for as long as I could, trying to save my home) I will never buy another house here.

by Kelly	06/13/07 12:18 PM
I have no sympathy for the speculators. They get what they deserve.

by Chris	06/13/07 12:12 PM
Legislators, you reading this? Your insurance "fix" didn't do squat, give us meaningful tax relief. Sure, tax rates have gone down but the value went up so the rate paid went up. Don't try to "smoke and mirror" us with that argument.

by Carol	06/13/07 11:59 AM
Yikes! Are you paying attention, Florida House and Senate?

by tracy	06/13/07 11:56 AM
i cant understand why anyone would not like their taxes and ins cut. police,fire,etc..said they cant afford high tax and ins,now all of a sudden they make it sound terrible situation.they'll soon have to leave the state also w the rest of us.

Mortgage breakdown in Florida

Housing news can't get any worse, right? Wrong. In May, Florida homes were 3 times as likely to enter foreclosure as those in other states.